
Qass_ 
Book. 



- 



/ 

POPERY 

STRIPPED OF ITS GARB: 

OR, THE 



WORK OF INIQUITY 



CHECKED IN ITS PROGRESS. 



BY 

REV. J. flf. HORNER, 

AUTHOR OF IMMERSION THE ONLY SCRIPTURAL MODE OF BAPTIZING, 
OF HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, COMPOSED AND ARRANGED FOR 
THE USE OF THE UNION BAPTISTS. OF THE MODERN EMI- 
GRANT, OR THE LOVER OF LIBERTY. OF POPERY 
AND CLOSE COMMUNION IDENTIFIED 

', ,A^D EXPOSED. „ > - - -. J , ' : - - 



Fiat justitia, ruat caelum. 



No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And 
every tongue that shall rise in judgment against thee thou shalt 
condemn. Isai. liv. 17. 



*$s 






Entered, according to, Act, pf .Cong/ess, in the year 1836, 
V % £S .'^' •ft'^ii in: the CletkSi Office of the Southern 



INTRODUCTION. 



The spirit of sectarianism is frequently so deluded 
with falsehood, charmed with self-interest, and 
blinded with zeal, that she not only uses very foul 
means, but makes a misapplication of them in dis- 
seminating her contracted principles. 

The truth of this observation will be developed in 
the description of that violent persecution which we 
have lately experienced, and which (painful as may 
be the task) it is our duty to bring before the pub- 
lic in the following sheets. 

We have been so peculiarly favoured by Provi- 
dence, the light of revelation, and minds disposed to 
think and act for themselves, that we have fearlessly 
avowed ourselves to be open communionists ; there- 
fore the hierarchs of the close Baptists have not 
only denied us their fellowship, but have fol- 
lowed us with their invectives and protracted ana- 
themas : for the newspapers published by them, and 
even the minutes of their associations, (sanctified 
as they are by being denominated religious), are 
made the vehicles of slander to our character and 
doctrine. 

In consequence of their multiplied publications, 
and slanderous advertisements, we feel ourselves 
necessitated to make an appeal to the press, and an 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

intelligent public, by the publication of the follow- 
ing work, which consists of a number of reflections 
on the violence of that conduct, lately manifested by 
the adherents of rigidism against the author, w T ho 
has the good fortune to differ so far from his oppo- 
nents, as to make it his principal object to promote 
Christian charity and forbearance among Christians 
of every persuasion. Or it may be said to be com- 
posed of strictures on one of the most base and un- 
principled charges that has ever disgraced the Ameri- 
can press, which teems with all the wicked allusions 
that diabolical craft could fabricate, to render ridi- 
culous our name and character. 

When we consider how partial and tenacious the 
rigid Baptists are on the subject of close commu- 
nion, we might suppose that they had the most un- 
questionable testimony of Scriptuie. And surely, 
if it were a true doctrine, it would have been set 
forth in the plainest and intelligible terms : but this 
is so far from being the case, that though we have 
narrowly examined the Scriptures, we have not 
found a single text in support of their hackneyed 
doctrine. We allow that they may think they have 
the sanction of Scripture on their side, and every 
party of Christians think the same ; but that is no 
proof that they should be so unchristian as to slan- 
der and injure those who differ in their ideas from 
them, dec. 

But notwithstanding all their slander and violence 
toward us, we shall find ourselves under the neces- 
sity of looking on rigid comm unionism as an here- 
tical opinion, or a doctrine which can only excite a 



INTRODUCTION. V 

discordant feeling in the breast of those who ought 
to be devotional servants of the gracious Redeemer. 
But, on the other hand, the doctrine of open com- 
munion is highly calculated to cement the bonds of 
union in the great family of Christians, and pro- 
mote brotherly love and affection among them. 
And although open communionism may seem to 
sport in danger on the billows, yet, since it is 
anchored in the charity and loving-kindness of 
God, it will ride in stately majesty on the sea of 
time, when the monster of rigid and sectarian com- 
munion will go down to the boitom, from whence 
it rose. 

No man ought to suffer — no, not even for murder- 
without a fair trial ; but they never tried us by jury; 
they never called us to an account for our conduct 
or doctrine ; yet they have pursued us with an eccle- 
siastical tyranny, and without bringing the accused 
and the accuser face to face, they have sentenced us 
to a state of infelicity. They have exhibited a de- 
lusive picture of our character, falsehood has held 
their pencil, but experience will show that the de- 
ception is real ; and hence we might, suppose that 
the prophet alluded to them when he said, " They 
have sown thorns, and cannot reap wheat; they 
have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit"* 
They have disparaged the scriptural intentions of 
our mind, traduced our name from the honourable 
pages on which it was pressed, and by their foul 
and false tales they have decried all our attempts to 

* Jer. xii. 13. 
1* 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

do good ; for slander finds an easy entrance into ig- 
noble minds. 

They have attempted to bury our character in 
disgrace, and throw darkness around our name. 
They have set us up as a mark to shoot at, and at- 
tempted to kill our character with their reproaches, 
and bury it with their earthly attempts, which are no 
more than so many ashes which may be blown about 
by the wafting of a feather ; therefore we are deter- 
mined to assume a resurrection's power, and place 
ourselves in a defensive attitude. 

A more thorough, out and out, unblushing species 
of despotism is not described in the annals of his- 
tory, nor to be found within the precincts of popish 
tyrann)'. By their eonduct toward us, we are re- 
minded of all the peculiar circumstances which at- 
tended the transportation of Joseph into Egypt, 
because they have attempted to sell, or rank us 
among the most ungodly and unblushing Egyptians 
of the present day. Their pernicious and wicked 
attempts toward us appear to resemble the wife of 
Potiphar, for they have been nothing to us but a 
temptation to renounce our profession ; had we no 
stronger evidences of the truth of Christianity than 
their unmanly and inhuman conduct toward us, we 
might have been buried in the quicksands of skep- 
ticism, and shipwrecked among the shoals of infi- 
delity. 

We have been told that it is wrong to write 
against such a respectable body of men, but on 
that principle, it was wrong for Christ to attack the 
errors of the Jews ; for Paul to declaim against 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 

idolatry ; and for Wickliffe to preach against Popery. 
But right or wrong, what must we do, for they have 
shot their poisoned darts at us, and we have no 
other antidote to expel their poisonous effects but 
by means of the press. And whatever may be the 
disadvantages under which we labour in conse- 
quence of being strangers, and possessing but little 
influence, yet we must do our duty, and leave the 
event to him who never lets a sparrow fall to the 
ground without his notice. 

As a proof of their antipathy, the unfairness 
of their conduct, and their preposterous insinua- 
tions against us, they have surmised, but not 
proved ; accused, but without witnesses ; passed 
judgment, but without a jury ; and thus by their con- 
duct, they have ranked themselves among the most 
awful despots that ever displayed their usurpation 
on the stage of action. 

Their conduct toward us is unbecoming the man 
of sense, and if in this case they make pretensions 
to any, it only evinces their ignorance. 

If we were disposed to take a view of their ac- 
tions in this case, apart from their benevolent ones, 
(if any they have), might we not suppose that they 
had been sucking at the breasts of Popery ; cradled 
in the heartless regions of despotism ; and tutored 
at the college of Lisbon ? 

Some of our close Baptist friends have told us, 
that they believe their ministers to be good men, 
and therefore could not serve us so cruelly if we were 
innocent. Such friends should remember that it is 
generally admitted, that Luther and Calvin were 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

good men, yet they were guilty of cruelty, for it is 
evident that neither of them understood the rights 
of conscience, so far from it, that Luther speaking 
of those whom he deemed heretics, says, " they 
ought to be confined and shut up in some certain 
place, and put under restraint as madmen." And 
when he was speaking of the Jews, he says, " their 
synagogues should be levelled with the ground, 
their houses destroyed, and their books of prayers 
and of the Talmud, and even those of the Old 
Testament taken from them, their Rabbins forbid 
to teach, and forced to hard labour to get their bread, 
and if they would not submit to this, to be banish- 
ed, &c." * And Calvin says, " a heretic deserves 
to be burnt wherever he is found," and his conduct 
toward Servetus is well known. 

If our opponents had as much influence over the 
civil authorities as the above had in their day, or if 
they had as much stately authority as they have 
ecclesiastical power, our life would not be secured 
to us many hours. 

But O happy America ! glorious art thou among 
the nations of the earth ; where my religious free- 
dom is secured to me by the undaunted heroism 
of our memorable Father of '76, who waged war 
with despotism, and who boldly drew his sword in 
defence of her, and caused thy valleys to ring with 
praises ; and thy sons to tune their harps, while 
loud acclammations of joy dwelt on their lips. 
Rise thou venerable father from thy tomb, while 

* Luther's account of the Popish Church, p xxviii. 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

we crown thy head with glory and unfading laurels. 
For thou hast made thy country a sanctuary of re- 
ligious liberty for the whole civilized world. A 
bulwark of private security, and a blessed asylum 
of all that is worth having upon earth. May thy 
sons duly appreciate their inheritance, and hand 
down to the latest posterity the useful knowledge, 
the wholesome advice, and civilized laws, which 
thy patriarchal wisdom has imparted to them. But 
O thou venerable patriot, look on the apostacy of 
our enemies. For 

Although thou didst take from thy sheath 
Thy glittering sword, and quail'd the wrath 
Of despots ; yet see how they show 
A vigorous life and vengeance now. 

And what is worse than all is, that, 
They dress religiously to fight 
Against the liberties of men, 
And thus present a popish scene. 

And this is done upon the land, 
That is for liberty most famed ; 
Which shows us that tyrants can grow 
As weeds within the gardens do. 

O rise ! immortal hero, rise, 
Assume thy right, and for us seize 
The sceptre from these desperate foes, 
Who all our liberties oppose. 

And let thy energies be known 
On our behalf, and save us from 



X INTRODUCTION. 

Their cruel malice and their skill, 
Be thou our friend and father still. 

Dress in thy stately panoply, 
Pursue these usurpers, and fall 
All their salacious thirst for power, 
And save us in this dangerous hour. 

Put 'thy imperial courage on, 
Let thy gigantic power be known ; 
March in the greatness of thy might, 
Be thou our Friend and Father yet. 

Then shall thy sons thy name hand down 
To children who are yet unborn ; 
Nations shall tremble at thy power, 
Tyrants shall fall to rise no more. 

Although we dislike personalities, and should be 
exceedingly sorry to injure any man by the publica- 
tion of these sheets, yet we feel ourselves compelled 
to analyze and condemn what we consider to be 
more terrible than a lie. Possessing such views, 
and placed as we are in present circumstances, we 
proceed fearlessly, because we do not doubt the con- 
sequences of exhibiting the deformity of our ene- 
mies' principles and conduct. 

If we would expose error, we must not flatter the 
authors of error. 

If we would be faithful, we must not garble our 
statements. 

If we would point out the crooked conduct of our 
enemies, we must be straight forward ourselves. 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

Like good pilots, we wish to be above board in 
the time of danger. 

When we have told these enemies of our design 
to combat their wicked plots, and prove their Diana 
of rigid communionism to be the work and invention 
of men, they have said that we should fall victims 
to our folly : but we have a better opinion of the 
goodness of our cause, the motives by which we are 
actuated, and the power by which we are supported; 
and since we are secure in Him, who is unto us 
" as a rock in a weary land," we are proof against 
their aspersions, where their influence cannot bury, 
nor their power hurt. 

The author does not publish this work because 
he has any ill will toward them ; but because he 
cannot combat their pernicious principles without 
exposing them. We cannot come forward as friends 
to liberty, without exposing bigotry. If we would 
recommend charity, we must combat the opposite 
principle. In prosecuting what we apprehend to be 
our duty, we court no man's approbation, nor fear his 
displeasure. And why should we? because "Nilcon- 
scire sibi nulla pallescare culpa," is our happiness, 
and therefore " ratis justifica suasaria." Consequent- 
ly, we have no other motives in sending this work 
into the world, than to check their ambition, to bri- 
dle their licentious appetites, and confront the base 
designs of our implacable enemies, or to soften, if 
possible, the spirit of those who may be incensed 
against us, if that can be done without a sacrifice of 
truth, or faithful language ; and to promote the glory 
of God by checking the torrent of priestcraft, which 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

has of late been exercised against the author. These, 
we trust, are our prominent reasons for appearing 
before the public on this occasion. 

The zealots of close communion are not content 
to promote their ideas by legitimate and sober argu- 
ment ; but, like the corrupted church of Rome, they 
have sought to promote their favourite doctrine by 
persecution. 

It is true, they have not committed the author to a 
Newgate dungeon, nor to the piles of Smithfield : 
all this is beyond their power ; but they have fol- 
lowed him from pillar to post with their infamous 
slanders and torrents of invectives. They have 
made a direct attempt to injure his person, property, 
and character, by their monstrous, glaring, and pal- 
pable execrations and slanderous publications, by 
which they have endeavoured, " spargere voces vul- 
giam ambiguas." It is evident that they have wound- 
ed Christ in the house of his friends, and endeavoured 
to sell innocent Joseph to strangers, with a design 
to confine him in the dark cells of scorn and hatred, 
among convicted thieves of the most abandoned cha- 
racter ; therefore it is our duty to provide for them 
the bread of liberty, superior to the corn of Egypt, 
and redeem them from the barren and parched re- 
gions of narrow-mindedness. 

The author has been told, that his enemies are 
good men, consequently that he ought to be very 
mild with them : but if we may judge from their 
conduct toward him, we cannot suppose them to be 
very angelic beings. The argument that they are 
good men, reminds us of those words of Solomon — 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

" As dead flies cause the ointment of the apothe- 
cary to send forth a stinking savour, so doth a little 
folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and ho- 
nour." However high their reputation for goodness 
may stand, yet, when mixed with such folly as to 
persecute a stranger, against whom they prove no 
guilt, nor substantiate a single charge, their rash and 
unwarrantable conduct sullies their goodness and 
destroys the sweet perfume which the name of the 
good man sends forth, like the dead flies that gave 
the odoriferous ointment into which they fall a stink- 
ing savour. Whatever good qualities a man may 
have, yet if he has. a persecuting spirit, that seems 
a sufficient portion of carnality to bury the whole of 
them. 

For men to turn persecutors, it i-s not essential 
that they should literally singe the flesh of another, 
because he differs from them in sentiment; but when 
they follow him with their infamous slanders and 
false reports, and so far crush him with their un- 
godly and overwhelming influence as to take from 
him his bread, his character, and his all, it is a foul 
species of persecution, that ought never to be prac- 
tised in the United States, though it may be con- 
fined to Lisbon or Madrid. 

In their infernal advertisements and diabolical 
publications against the author, they have come for- 
ward with all their consummate impudence, to im- 
pose upon the ignorant, and those who have no 
more than common experience to guard them from 
their intrigues. Their abstruse charges against his 
character, the unproved evidences of those charges, 
2 



XIV INTRODUCTION", 

together with their bigoted dislike to his liberal views, 
constitute the sandy foundation on which they have 
built all their opposition against him, and therefore 
reasonable men are obliged to believe, that while 
we have truth for our commander, bravery and cou- 
rage for our armament, we shall subdue their rage, 
blow down their malice, and frustrate their design. 

It is likely that they will think we do exceedingly 
wrong in charging them with a persecuting spirit 
toward us because of a difference in sentiment, and 
exposing their conduct to the world ; but if we are 
not correct, we call upon them to propound their 
acataleptic and otherwise incomprehensible mys- 
tery. We have called upon them before, and have 
directed letters of inquiry to Priest Parkinson, 
Priest Cone, and Priest Benedict : we have also 
repeated those inquiries. But did they answer 
them ? Ah, no ! that would not do, because they had 
done a job of which they did not wish to give any 
account, and therefore ran behind the curtain, and 
crowded their heads in a nutshell, or retreated in 
silence; and having set the prejudices of the people 
upon us, shot their poisoned darts into the very 
heart of our character, and left it bleeding at a thou- 
sand pores : they perceived that they had done all 
they could, and therefore retreated in secrecy and 
complacency. And since they have thus struck a 
deadly blow at the existence of our ministerial cha- 
racter, we must assume a resurrection's power to 
make known to the world the weakness of their 
attempt. 

They have dragged us into the field where thou- 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

sands have been slain ; consequently we must act 
like men of life ; and since they have thus dragged 
us on, we shall see that saying fulfilled — " He that 
leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity ; he 
that, killeth with the sword shall be killed by the 
sword" Magna est Veritas et prcevalebit. Their 
profession of Christianity, their opposition to our 
open sentiments, and their burning desire to con- 
summate their schemes of despotism and besotted 
bigotry, is an anomaly which can only be solved by 
the recollection that ambition transforms itself into 
necessity; that royalty sanctifies enormous crimes; 
and that the variance between Herod and Pontius 
Pilate can only be reconciled by the crucifixion of 
JmmanueL These hierarchs and their agents have 
lost their contradictory qualities, and are amalgam- 
ated into one machine, whose perpetual motion inva- 
riably tends to the same object. 

This may be shown by referring to the fact, that 
in every direction of the country their associations 
have combined their efforts to point their poisoned 
darts at us. It is also well known, that they are as 
much divided among themselves as is possible for 
men to be ; yet behold, they all agree that we are a 
fit object of dislike, against whom their besotted ma- 
lice and infuriated rage may be vented. 

A slight attention to what they have inserted in 
the Minutes of their Associations will detect an 
amount of selfishness, presumption, and falsehood, 
rarely equalled in any printed document. It has the 
appearance of unblushing despotism, which has 
lifted its hand to the highest possible pitch, design- 



XVI INfRODUCriOtf. 

edl y to strike us into the mire of disgrace, and crusfi 
our character into annihilation. 

They have loaded their quiver, presented their 
strongest arrows, and shot their darts at us, which 
were dipped in the poison of sectarian bigotry with a 
design to corrupt the public opinion. They have 
also clothed themselves with supreme, legislative, 
judicial, and executive power ; and therefore- appear 
to suppose that they would be allowed to carry on 
their craft, practise their tricks, and prosecute their 
popish plots and schemes against us with impunity. 
There are, undoubtedly, a few persons who might 
deem it an act of prudence to conceal the enormi- 
ties of such assemblies, lest the honour of Chris- 
tianity should suffer by exposing them. But we 
cannot be of opinion, that Christianity can suf- 
fer in the judgment of any impartial person by th© 
conduct of turbulent and factious men ;. because k 
hath numberless advocates in every age, who by 
their example as well as influence, promote the in- 
terests of personal religion ^ exhibiting the fairest 
patterns of meekness, patience, purity, and spiritu*- 
ality, as- well as the most undissembled and fer- 
vent piety. 

Such men of sterling worth, — such genuine 
Christians, who pass through the world like a? gen* 
tie current, which fertilizes the whole adjacent coun- 
try, appear with no eclat in history. The good ef- 
fect of their efforts being diffused in silence. The 
restless and the ambitious, whose only aim is usur- 
pation, and whose principal object is influence and 
power; to bear down all before them* Uke the rest^ 



INTRODUCTION. XVII 

less torrent, which desolates regions, attracts obser- 
vation by the changes they produce in the world, 
throw themselves into everlasting contempt ; while 
the righteous who have served their generation, will 
be had in everlasting remembrance. 

The conduct of our enemies, certainly furnishes 
matter of ridicule to the scoffers, and exultation to 
the infidel, but in no wise shakes the confidence of 
the humble believer, but enforces with emphasis, 
the injunction — " watch." 

Necessitated as we are, to notice how they charge 
our character with the blackest crimes, our senti- 
ments with heterodoxy, and follow us in every 
direction of the country with their falacious slanders. 
We may safely say that we exist in evil days, for 
we are fallen upon evil tongues ; consequently call- 
ed upon, not merely to resist the torrents of invec- 
tives with which the illiberal may choose to assail 
us, but likewise to drink the bitter cup of priestly 
malevolence to the dregs. But notwithstanding our 
situation, we can say with Horace, " Juston et te- 
nacem proposite, &c." Neither the clamours of a 
raging mob, nor the frowns of a threatening tyrant, 
furious storms, nor roaring thunder, can move a 
righteous man who stands firm to his resolution, 
and although the rack of the world might crush his 
body to atoms, yet could not shake his soul with 
fear. 

Therefore, we thank God that our three sheets 

are spread in the wind, that we are sailing in the 

main ocean of an unchangeable covenant, and fear 

neither shoals, rocks, nor quicksands. It may be 

2* 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

that we shall not be troubled with them any more 
after this, but if they should come upon us again, 
they will find more sand bars than clear seas, and 
more iron than silver. But should they come upon 
us with all their formidable force, yet we will take 
encouragement from the consideration, that the oak 
which has been bowed by the blast, may again be- 
come erect and majestic ; that the country which the 
earthquake has desolated, may again become ver- 
dant and beautiful. 

But whether we rise or fall in this mighty con- 
test, in which we propose to develope the utmost 
of our energies, yet we have a conscience void of 
offence, which enables us to brave the storm in the 
hour of danger, and leads us on with heroic courage. 
Therefore, fear not my soul, a beneficent and an all 
creative being, who was the ED^nba of the ancients, 
has given thee that which will enable thee to- wage 
war with all their allied power; and grace has put a 
stone in thy sling, which when well directed shall 
fall in their forehead, and cause them to lay their 
Philistine and ungodly weapons at thy feet. 

Notwithstanding the situation in which they have 
placed us by the violence of their persecuting spirit, 
and the black terms they have selected for the pur- 
pose of exhibiting us to public ridicule; we feel 
that religion is an efficacious antidote against the 
ills by which they have oppressed us ; a shield that 
blunts their malicious darts, and an asylum into 
which they cannot enter. It brings to our sight a 
judge who will deal righteously with them, and re- 
ward the oppressed according to the reproaches 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

which are heaped on their heads. And the resig- 
nation, patience, and courage with which they bear 
them. 

It appears to us as the iris and dissipating the 
angry storm restores a desirable calm, and lands us 
in the harbour of safety. 

Their fumes of rage and combined efforts, have 
formed a cloud which, at its first appearance, threat- 
ened us with storms and hurricanes, and to fill the soul 
with forebodings of sorrow, but which shall burst with 
blessings on our head ; nay, we already feel its fall- 
ings to soften and moisten our path, causing plea- 
sant flowers to spread their fragrance around us, and 
promising to laurel our former days with triumph 
and victory. This conviction, together with the re- 
vealed promises which say, that their piteous oppo- 
sition shall redound to our good, and to the glory of 
our God. We cannot but smile at the impolicy of 
their conduct; for the)' seem to act like the man who 
tried to move an Atlantic mountain by the waving of 
his feather ; or like those who forget to remember 
that their supposed tower of safety may fall in ruins 
about their ears. For while their violent and per- 
secuting spirit will induce every lover of liberty to 
become their enemy, their cruelty toward us will 
be the means of making every generous mind our 
friend. With this conviction let us march boldly 
forward to face all their unchristian sallies, and for 
the good of our fellow-men record their attrocious 
deeds. Thus we are determined to stand our ground 
with courage, because destruction can never be in 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

the way of him who has God and truth on his side. 
Therefore, 

Stand fast, my soul, assume thy right, 

And put heroic courage on ; 
Make truth thy sword, and grace thy shield,, 



Let no Philistine thee affright, 
No son of Gath disarm thy faith ; 

For Heaven will give thy foes to thee,. 
And victory shall attend thy path. 

And why should we fear in a country, the civil 
enactments of which allow the liberty of the press ? 
for while this is the case, they may send with full 
vigour the bulls of their councils: they may have 
their corrupt and servile associations, their full swing 
of patronage ; their mighty machine of priestly in- 
fluence ; all the power which their combined efforts 
can purchase ;. all their manoeuvring to overrule re- 
sistance ; yet, armed with this liberty of the press, 
we will go undismayed, and attack, with that mighty 
engine, the huge fabric they have raised, and bury 
it beneath the abuses it was intended to shelter. We 
therefore hope they will find, by and by, that they 
had hoodwinked themselves in their plans and 
schemes, and thus exposed themselves to the pity 
of bystanders and the charitable. 

According to the predictions of the prophets, a 
friendly understanding among men is so far to pre- 
vail that " the sucking child shall play on the hole 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

of the asp, and a weaned child shall put his hand 
on the cockatrice's den. v * But whenever we have 
attempted to touch their favourite doctrine or the 
place where they are encaved, they have started in 
a swarm against us, with all the vehemence of ex- 
asperated asps. When we have attempted to lay 
our hand upon them, with a Christian design, to 
stroke them into a state of docility, they have rat- 
tled their chain, and flown at us with all the ven- 
geance of a cockatrice, or untamed lions ; and it 
appears as though we must be hated for exhibiting 
the essence of love and friendship among Chris- 
tians. But, magna est Veritas et praevalebit. By 
their conduct they have manifested unprovoked cru- 
elty, and though they have at times discovered their 
archness and severity, yet they have given no evi- 
dence of repentance. By a carnal policy they have 
endeavoured to fix one end of their priestly invented 
chain round our feet, as though we were vagabond 
slaves. But Divine justice will rivet the other end 
round their necks. Thus will God take the self- 
wise in their own craftiness. 

Their foul representations of our character, their 
lying slanders of our doctrine, and their publishing 
us as they would a rogue, a vagabond, and an impos- 
tor, is nothing more than a sectarian stone and bi- 
goted vengeance, which are levelled at us from a 
priestly corner ; and it will be difficult for the inno- 
cency of an honest mind, or the integrity of an 
upright character, to set the matter straight, for by 

* Isai. xf. 8. 



XXil INTRO DUCTJOH. 

them our faith is questioned, our works belied, and 
our motives charged with impurity. And to wind 
up the scene, cruelty and cowardice, twin ruffians, 
are employed to develope their plans. And though 
as innocent of the charge as the lamb found by 
Abraham, yet they have pursued us into their own 
invented thickets, where they fancy they can find a 
sufficient number of sticks to make a fire, and sacri- 
fice their victim to their honour and praise ; but 
glory to Him who accepts of no sacrifices but those 
which are offered with a pure motive, they are baf- 
fled in their design, because no holy fire has descend- 
ed to consume their offering. They have attempted 
to singe the hem of our garment on every side ; }^et 
we feel no burning within, nor accusation. 

We admit that the language we have used may 
appear to a superficial observer more acrimonious 
than the occasion demands, and that we may be 
unqualified to judge of its propriety ; but since we 
have suffered deeply, it is natural to express our- 
selves strongly. We have been cruelly attacked, 
and must use the justifiable means that are within 
our reach. If our observations appear bitter to the 
reader, he would do well to remember that they 
would wear a different aspect were he in our situa- 
tion, and better acquainted with the occasion which 
gave their existence. 

Should the words and sentences which are thrown 
together in these sheets, appear coarse and harsh to 
the delicate and polite, we hope they will be no dis- 
grace to a sincere man. When we are to talk on 
matters of importance, a desire to please must give 



INTRODUCTION. XX111 

way to candour, and delicacy to truth. We wish 
to possess minds above deceit, and which will never 
stoop to a willingness to flatter; flattery may tempt 
admirers, but cannot confer real happiness. 

The words and conduct of our oponents have not 
been very mild and soft toward us ; therefore, we know 
of no principle that forbids speaking of them with 
the faithfulness of a Nathan, and the boldness of a 
man. 

But whatever view the reader may take of the 
words or observations we have used, it is sufficient 
for us, that with a regard to them-, we feel a con- 
science void of offence. Although we are strangers 
in a strange land, yet so long as God is with us, we 
are content to stand alone and be truly independent. 
We may have friends and domestic connexions; 
but we must not in those connexions lose our indi- 
viduality. Weak and crippled minds may lean on 
others, but we are disposed to act for ourselves. 

Although we know by deep oxperience, that we 
are sailing amid shoals and quicksands, yet we have 
a skilful pilot on board. Therefore we are not 
struck with any nervous disorder ; neither do we fear 
the encroachments of enemies, nor the enactments 
of their malice. They may be formidable, yet we 
do not fear. They pursue us with the ferocity of a 
lion, yet we know they are chained. A good cause 
makes a stout heart, and a strong hand. A goose's 
quill is sometimes stronger than a lion's paw. And 
while we are allowed the use of the former, we 
ear not the power of the latter. 



POPERY 

STRIPPED OF ITS GARB, 

*" Magna est Veritas et prcevalebit" 
"Non obstante audi alteram partem.** 



CHAPTER I. 



Rigid and sectarian prejudices seem to be com* 
mon companions of the human mind. 

The truth of this observation was never more 
fully developed than in the warm and malignant 
persecution, with which the author has been pur- 
sued by the close communion Baptists. 

When nature blesses a man with a mind disposed 
to think and act for itself, it appears to render him 
the common envy of mankind. At any rate, it gene- 
rally makes him the object of scorn and derision ; 
for nothing is more common than for such men to 
be represented in the most odious light, and spoken 
of as a proper object of scorn and obloquy. 

According to human appearance, it is my misfor- 
tune to differ from my close Baptist brethren on 
the subject of open and close communion; for which 
cause their leaders have followed me with the foulest 
invectives that diabolical craft could fabricate; for the 
newspapers published by them, their pamphlets, 

3 



26 POPERY STRIPPED 

and their sectarian sheets, with all their extensive 
circulation, and partial influence, have been enlisted 
to render ridiculous my name and character. And 
thus these besotted bigots have united with the 
Church of Rome to carry on the work of persecu- 
tion. 

It shall therefore be our duty on this occasion, 
to show that these enemies are not only identified 
with Popery in the disgraceful work of persecution, 
but that they go hand and glove with the Church of 
Rome, in the propagation of one of the foulest errors 
that ever disgraced the professing church. 

It is well known, that the Church of Rome is guilty 
of spiritual fornication, by mixing together Laiv and 
Gospel ; and we have it within our power to show 
that this is the case with my opponents. 

There can be no doubt, but that if we attempt to 
prove this assertion, it will bring with vengeance on 
my head, their concentrated vituperations, and that 
their partial sheets will be crowded with excommu- 
nicating bulls and resentful anathemas. But let 
the thunders roll, and the conflicting elements meet ; 
they will only be the forebodings of a desirable 
storm, which will waft us with more speed toward 
our desired haven. Let the clouds gather together 
with blackness ; it will only be the iris of a fore- 
boding shower. 

They may raise a paper war against us, but we 
fear no consequences, because we are already im- 
panoplied with our unctuous implements, and the 
free use of the press : therefore we fear not the ul- 
timatum, for Christ is the pilot of our little bark — 



OF ITS GARB. 27 

a covert in the storm — the commander in chief of 
our brave forces, and the citadel of our safety. We 
therefore desire to hasten with a spiritual heroism, 
corresponding to the goodness of our cause, and the 
confidence with which we are inspired by our mag- 
nanimous leader. 

But before we take up arms in self-defence, it is 
necessary to state to the reading umpire our just 
cause of complaint, which may be done as follows: — 

FIRSTLY. 
The close Baptists believe that the new cove- 
nant Gospel, or spiritual dispensation, commenced 
with the ministry of John the Baptist. 

SECONDLY. 

The close Baptists believe that the lata and cere- 
mony of Christian baptism, were established in the 
Jeivish dispensation, or that John's baptism was 
an ordinance peculiar to the Christian covenant. 
THIRDLY. 

Although the close Baptists say that the new and 
spiritual covenant, or Gospel dispensation, com- 
menced with the ministry of John, yet they believe 
that the old or Jeivish dispensation continued down 
to the death of Christ, and therefore they propa- 
gate the doctrine, that the two covenants existed at 
one time. 

FOURTHLY. 

The close Baptists literally close the doors of 
their churches against even the most eminent unbap- 
tized saints, and believe such rigid conduct to be 
right. 



28 POPERY STRIPPED 

FIFTHLY. 

The close Baptists persecute us T because we ivilt 
not assist them to propagate their erroneous and un** 
scriptural doctrines. 

First. — The close Baptists believe that the 
new covenant, gospel, or spiritual dispensation, com- 
menced with the ministry of John the Baptist.. 

When we desire to bring to light the doctrines 
peculiar to any denomination,, it is fair and just to 
refer to their principal leaders, commentators, and 
their publications. Therefore,, by way of examining, 
demon strating, and opening the veracity of our first 
proposition, we refer the readers attention to a few 
selections from the celebrated commentary of Dr. 
Gill r who carries the van of their principal divines, 
writers, and authors. 

" Here Christ not only prayed and read, but 
preached ; and the subject matter of his ministry 
was, the Gospel of the kingdom : that is, the good 
news of the kingdom of the Messiah being come, 
and which now took place ; wherefore, he exhorted 
them to repent of and relinquish their former prin- 
ciples ; to receive the doctrines, and submit to the 
ordinances of the Gospel dispensation." * 

" The sense is, that the narrative Mark was about 
to write, began with the ministry of John the Bap- 
tist, and of Christ ; which was a Gospel one, and 
was the beginning of the Gospel dispensation, in 
distinction from the legal one : the law and the pro- 

* Gill on Matt. re. 24. 



OF ITS GARB. 29 

phets were until John, and they ceased and ended 
in him ; when the Knn o^tf the world to come, 
the kingdom of God, or Gospel state, took place." * 

" Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel 
of the kingdom of God ; the good news and glad 
tidings of the kingdom of the Messiah, or Gospel 
dispensation: Saying, the time is fulfilled — either 
that which was fixed for the end of the law and 
the prophets, the legal and Mosaic dispensation, 
and the Jewish church state ; which proclaims 
liberty from the law."t 

We make our next selection from the Baptist 
Catechism, by B. Beddome, M. A. 

" Quest. 97. What is baptism ? 

" Ans. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Tes- 
tament, instituted by Jesus Christ, to be unto the 
party baptized a sign of his fellowship with him in 
his death, burial, and resurrection ; of his being en- 
grafted into him, of remission of sins, and of his 
giving up himself unto God, through Jesus Christ, 
to live and work in newness of life. 

" Did the Jews baptize before John ? 

" No ; for they ask, Why baptizest thou, if thou 
be not the Christ, nor Elias ? John i. 25. 

" Did John's baptism introduce the Gospel dis- 
pensation ? 

" Yes : The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ — John did baptize, Mark i. 1, 4. 

" And had it a Saviour shortly to come ? 

" Yes : He said, that they should believe on him 

* Gill on Mark i. 1. t Gill on Mark i. 14, 15. 
3* 



30 POPERY STRIPPED 

which should come after him, that is, on Christ Je- 
sus, Acts xix. 4. 

" Was John sent of God to baptize ? 

" Yes :- He that sent me to baptize with water, 
the same said unto me, John i. 33. 

" Did the people receive his baptism as from God 1 

" Yes : They justified God, being baptized with 
the baptism of John, Luke vii. 29. 

" And was John's baptism the same for substance 
as that of Christ's ? 

" Yes : For Jesus baptized, and John also was 
baptizing, John iii. 22, 23. 

" Was Christ himself baptized ? 

" Yes : Then cometh Jesus unto John to be bap- 
tized of him, Matt. iii. 13. 

" Did he thereby confer an honour upon this ordi- 
nance ? 

" Yes : For there came a voice from heaven, say- 
ing, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased, Matt. iii. 17. 

" And is a powerful engagement upon us to sub- 
mit to it ? 

" Yes : For thus it becometh us to fulfil all righ- 
teousness, Matt. iii. 15."* 

Here the Baptist catechiser categorically teaches 
the catechumen, (with his catechrestical dogma) 
that the Gospel, or Christian dispensation, com- 
menced with the ministry of John the dipper ; but 
we refrain from any comment in this place on the 
sophistry of our learned opponent, since our only 
object is to ascertain the belief of the close Baptists 

* Beddome's Baptist Catechism, pp. 158, 159. 



OF ITS GARB. 31 

on the Jewish and Christian covenants. Oar po- 
pular author has a number of catechetical observa- 
tions, which farther shows, that he believed the new 
covenant was established before the death of Christ. 

The next author to which the reader's attention 
is invited is Mr. Fuller, who has made himself no- 
torious, (not among the liberal Baptists of England, 
but among the illiberal and very rigid Baptists of 
this liberal country), by writing a work professedly 
in reply to Robert HalVs Terms of Communion, 
which work has gained a circulation that shows how 
highly it is approved by the hierophants of rigidism. 
Wherefore, as it may be considered a fair repre- 
sentation of the sentiments of that body, we here 
give an extract which proves its author to have be- 
lieved, that the New Testament dispensation com- 
menced with the ministry of John the Baptist. 

" M. But, i as the ministry of John commenced 
previously to that of the Messiah, which succeeded 
his baptism, no rite, celebrated at that time, is en- 
titled to a place among Christian sacraments, since 
they did not commence with the Christian dispen- 
sation, nor issue from the authority of Christ, as 
Head of the church.'— [Ess. Diff. 17. H. 120.] 

" S. Here are two distinct objections. Let us 
attend to each separately. First, you say, the mi- 
nistry of John did not commence with the Christian 
dispensation. I think it did ; or rather, that the 
Christian dispensation commenced with the minis- 
try of John. 

" M. But that is impossible ; for, ' during our 
Lord's residence on earth, until his resurrection, 



32 POPERY STRIPPED 

the kingdom of God is uniformly represented as 
future, though near at hand.' — [Ess. Biff. 18. H. 
121.] 

" S. Not quite uniformly, my friend. On one 
occasion, you may remember, our Lord said, 'If I 
cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the king- 
dom of God is come unto you.' And, on inquiry by 
the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should 
come, he replied, ' The kingdom of God cometh not 
with observation. Neither shall men say, Lo here ! 
or, Lo there ! for behold, the kingdom of God is 
within you.' Nor is it possible to evade the force 
of this argument, by distinguishing between our 
Lord's personal ministry, and the ministry of John ; 
since the Evangelist Mark expressly informs us, that 
the coming of John was in i the beginning of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.' In addi- 
tion to this, it is worthy of remark, as placing the 
matter beyond all contradiction, that, during John's 
imprisonment, our Lord himself most unequivocally 
characterizes the ministry of the Baptist as the com- 
mencement of the Gospel dispensation : ' From the 
days of John the Baptist until now, (said he,) the 
kingdom of heaven suffer eth violence? <^c. — in allu- 
sion, doubtless, to the eagerness with which the 
common people received the doctrine propounded 
by John. The parabolical descriptions, also, of the 
Christian dispensation, are decidedly opposed to 
your hypothesis. The kingdom of God is compared 
to 'leaven, hid in three measures of meal;' and this 
accords with fact. During our Lord's abode on 
earth, the Gospel silently and gradually insinuated 



OF ITS GARB. 



33 



itself into the minds of the people. It is also com- 
pared to ' a grain of mustard seed' This also ac- 
cords with fact. At first, the Gospel of the kingdom 
grew underground, and put forth its shoots gradually 
and imperceptibly to those who were expecting 
some sudden and glaring display of the power of 
Messiah. Now, on the supposition that the king- 
dom of God, or ' the Gospel of Jesus Christ,' com- 
menced, as Mark says, with the ministry of John, 
there is a fitness and resemblance — a thorough good 
keeping — between the comparison and the reality. 
"While, on the contrary, if we could suppose with 
you, that the Christian dispensation commenced 
with the glories of Pentecost, nothing could less 
illustrate it than ' leaven hid in three measures of 
meal,' and a single grain of 'the smallest of all seeds. 3 
Nor will it avail to reply, that, during our Lord's 
personal ministry, the kingdom of God is occasion- 
ally represented as future. This is admitted. But 
what then ? Does it therefore follow, that its com- 
mencement was future ? By no means. And to 
affirm this, would be just as conclusive, or rather 
inconclusive, as to affirm, that we have not to this 
day witnessed its approach, because in our daily 
aspirations to heaven, we are directed to say, Thy 
kingdom come. The result is, my friend, that, as 
the first streaks of light which shoot across the ho- 
rizon contain the incipient elements of day ; so those 
glimmerings of the Gospel, which characterized 
the ministry of John, and which became gradually 
brighter during the ministry of our Lord, were the 
beginning, the early dawn, and contained the essen- 



34 



POPERY STRIPPED 



lial properties of the overwhelming splendour of 
'the ministration of the Spirit.' 

" M. But surely you will not pretend, that John's 
baptism issued from ' the authority of Christ, as Head 
of the church.' 

" S. I do not pretend, certainly, that John received 
his commission from Jesus in person. Undoubt- 
edly, he received it of ' the Father.'' But what then ? 
Does this prove that his baptism was not a Chris- 
tian institute? By no means. On the contrary, such 
a supposition is fraught with the most alarming con- 
sequences. On this principle, not only would the 
whole of John's mission be unchristianized — (the 
Gospel which he preached, no less than the rite 
which he performed,) — but the Gospel which our 
Lord himself preached, and the miracles 'which he 
performed, would be involved in a similar predica- 
ment. In support of this assertion, it is only ne- 
cessary to inquire, From whom did our Lord receive 
his commission ? By whom was he sent ? And by 
what authority did he uniformly act ? Was he self- 
commissioned? self-sent? self-authorized? — With- 
out intending, for a moment, to derogate from our 
Lord's essential divinity, we maintain that, as the 
Messiah, his authority was precisely the same as 
that of the harbinger. This is strongly implied in 
that memorable interrogatory answer to the chief 
priests and elders, who came to him as he was teach- 
ing in the temple, and said, 'By what authority doest 
thou these things ? and who gave thee this autho- 
rity ? Jesus answered, I will ask you one thing, 
which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell you by 



OF ITS GARB. 35 

what authority I do these things : The baptism of 
John — whence teas it V evidently implying, that the 
answer to this question would be the appropriate 
reply to theirs. But, to place the matter beyond a 
doubt, we have only to refer to our Lord's discourses, 
recorded by the Evangelist John. ' I am come in my 
Father's name, and ye receive me not.' ' I do nothing 
of myself ; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak 
these things.' ' The works that I do in my Father's 
name, they bear witness of me.' 'As my Fatherhas 
sent me, so send I you.' Now, on the hypothesis, that 
it is essential to a Christian ordinance, that it should 
have been instituted by Christ, in distinction from the 
Father, the works which. Jesus himself performed 
are divested of their Christian character. The Gos- 
pel which he preached, was not the Christian doc- 
trine ! the miracles which he wrought, were not 
Christian miracles ! the commands which he issued 
were not Christian commands ! And yet, that the 
Gospel which our Lord preached, ivas the Christian 
doctrine ; that the miracles which he wrought, w r ere 
Christian miracles ; and that the commands which 
he issued, were Christian commands, no one will 
presume, for a moment, to deny. Then why deny 
that John's baptism was a Christian institute, sim- 
ply because he received his commission, not from 
Jesus in person, but from the Father ? — But now, 
my friend, allow me to direct your attention to other 
instances of baptism, than those performed by John 
— baptisms which must have emanated from the per- 
sonal authority of Christ, and w 7 hich were undenia- 
bly anterior to the institution of the sacred supper. 



36 POPERY STRIPPED 

In early life Jesus had been engaged ' about his Fa- 
ther's business,' as a Prince during his minority, in 
privacy and seclusion ; but, when he was ' about 
thirty years of age,' he assumed the legislative cha- 
racter, and took into his own hands the reins of go- 
vernment. His first legislative act, in person, we 
may presume, was a command to his disciples to 
teach and baptize ; for, on what other supposition 
can their performance of these services be explained? 
The only question for our consideration is, Was the 
rite which they administered John's baptism ? To 
the argument, it is immaterial; for, if it was not y it 
must have been the commencement of a new 
baptism, and undeniably Christian baptism. But 
Mr. Hall, I remember, in his Terms of Commu- 
nion, (p. 196. H. 109.) tells us it was— ' that the 
baptisms celebrated by Christ's disciples during 
his personal ministry, in no respect differed from 
John's, either in the action itself, or in the import, 
but were merely a joint execution of the same 
work.' But then it so happens, that not only did 
these baptisms, as we have seen, belong to the 
Christian dispensation, but they must have emanat- 
ed from ' the authority of Christ, as the Head of the 
Church,' or we shall be presented with the appalling 
spectacle of self-appointed apostles, assuming a 
greater authority than their Sovereign Lord. These 
baptisms, then, belonging to the Christian dispensa- 
tion, and being performed in obedience to the com- 
mand of the Christian Legislator, were, undeniably, 
Christian baptisms. But Mr. Hall affirms, that 
' these baptisms in no respect differed from John's.' 



Oj? its garb. 37 

Consequently, John's baptism and Christian baptism, 
so far from being ' essentially different,' were, on 
Mr. Hall's own showing, identically the same ! 

"AT. Not quite so fast, my friend. That our 
Lord authorized his disciples to baptize, is easily 
accounted for. John, ' most probably, employed 
coadjutors :' and ' our Lord was, in consequence of 
his being the Messiah, undoubtedly authorized per- 
sonally to perform any religious rite or office which 
was at that time in force, as well as to delegate to 
ethers the power of performing it; and as immersion 
in token of repentance and preparation for the king- 
dom of God, then at hand, was an important branch 
of the religion then obligatory, it was with the great- 
est propriety that he not only submitted to it himself, 
but authorized his disciples to perform it. This, 
however, could not be considered as originating a 
new institution, but as a mere co-operation with his 
forerunner in one and the same work.' — [Terms, 
193, 194. H. 108.] 

" S. So then, the greater was the servant of the 
infeiior! the 'bridegroom' the assistant of his 'friend!' 
and the Lord Messiah the coadjutor of his harbinger J 
Who can believe it? True, on one occasion, he 
'submitted' to John's baptism : but the objection of 
John on that occasion, the implied admission of its 
justice, and peculiar reason assigned for waiving it 
in that one instance, — (' Suffer it to be so now ; for 
thus it becometh us, to fulfil all righteousness !') — 
forbid, most emphatically, the injurious supposition, 
that on any other occasion, there should be the least 
approach even to equal pretensions, much less to 
4 



38 POPERY STRIPPED 

an implied inferiority. Thank you, my friend, for 
admitting that Christ did authorize his disciples to 
baptize, and that his right to do so originated in his 
being the Messiah. Whether this was a new insti- 
tution, or a continuation of the rite introduced by 
John, is immaterial; since, whichever it was, it was 
an ordinance peculiar to the Christian dispensation, 
and was performed by Christ's disciples, in obedi- 
ence to Christ's command ; and was, consequently, 
to all intents and purposes, Christian baptism. But 
that this was ' a mere co-operation with John,' is by 
no means evident. Certainly, John's own disciples 
were not of this singular opinion ; since they endea- 
voured to provoke their master to jealousy, and re- 
presented Jesus as his rival, for no other reason 
whatever, than because, by his disciples he baptized, 
and all men came to him. Either they had not the 
wisdom to discover, or the candour to acknowledge, 
that this was not rivalry, but ' co-operation !' But 
why did not John undeceive them? Why did not he 
tell them they were mistaken — that Jesus was act- 
ing as his ' coadjutor V For the best possible reason. 
This would not have been the truth. On the con- 
trary, John acknowledges the rivalry — and accounts 
for it — and intimates that it is exactly what he had 
given them to expect — and actually rejoices in it ! 
It was, in fact, a rivalry without opposition, and with 
the full concurrence of the harbinger. 'Ye your- 
selves bear me witness, (said he,) that I said I am 
not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He 
that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend 
of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, 



OF ITS GARB. 39 

rejoice th greatly because of the bridegroom's voice : 
this, therefore, my joy, is fulfilled. He must in- 
crease ; but I must decrease.' And it is a fact not 
unworthy of remark, that we never, after this, read 
of John's baptizing. He rejoiced in what his dis- 
ciples communicated, notwithstanding it was at the 
expense of his own personal greatness ; cordially 
acquiescing in that, which, to a proud spirit, would 
have been unspeakably mortifying : 'He must in- 
crease ; but I must decrease.' Indeed, this is in 
exact accordance with the office of the forerunner. 
He did not come to establish his own doctrine, or to 
introduce a kingdom of his own : he came as the 
harbinger of Christ, to 'prepare the way of the 
Lord.' Consequently, when Jesus entered on his 
personal ministry, and assumed the reins of govern- 
ment, John's office naturally ceased : his work was 
accomplished, and the harbinger retired. 

" M. But ' when we consider the great popularity 
attached to the ministry of the forerunner, and the 
general submission of the Jewish people to his doc- 
trine, it is in the highest degree improbable, that of 
the three thousand who were added by St. Peter to 
the church on one day, there were none who had 
been previously his disciples : this incredible sup- 
position is reduced to an impossibility, when we 
recollect, that of the twelve apostles, two are actually 
affirmed by an evangelist to have been of that num- 
ber. But as it is universally admitted that they who 
were savingly convinced of the truth of Christianity 
at the Pentecost, were baptized on that occasion, 
what conclusion can be more inevitable, than that 



40 POPERY STRIPPED 

the rite administered by the harbinger of our Lord, 
was essentially distinct from the Christian ordinance; 
[Ess.Diff. 18, 19. H. 121.] 

" S.. This, my friend, is one of those arguments 
which prove too much, and contains within itself the 
materials for its own refutation. If disciples of 
John were present, it does not follow that they were 
baptized on this occasion : for if so, the apostles 
also should have been re-baptized — a supposition, 
of which there is not the least shadow of proof. — - 
Consequently, there were some of John's disciples 
present, who- doubtless united in church fellowship, 
and who were not re-baptized. But that which was 
true of some, may have been true of others. One 
thing appears demonstrable — that none of those 

WHO WERE ON THIS OCCASION BAPTIZED, WERE 

John's disciples. All who were baptized on this 
occasion were now, for the first time, ' pricked in, 
their hearts f this was the period of their conver- 
sion : and Peter exhorted them to be baptized ' for 
the remission of sins.' But all John's disciples had 
already complied with a similar exhortation. The 
baptism of John, the Evangelist Mark informs us, 
was ' the baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins :' and to this baptism, 'confessing their sins,' 
all the disciples of John had previously submitted. 
Consequently, this could not be the period of their 
conversion : they could not now, for the first time be 
'pricked in their hearts.' However many of them, 
therefore, were present on this occasion, and united 
in church fellowship, it must have been by virtue of 
their former confession, as. in the instance of the 



OF ITS GARB. 41 

apostles. Your argument, my friend, admits of ex- 
actly the same reply as you would furnish to our 
Pedobaptist brethren, who infer, that because house- 
holds were baptized, therefore the apostles baptized 
infants. Whether there were infants in the house- 
holds or not, you do not care to decide; for you 
maintain, that if there were, they were not baptized: 
and why ? Because there are certain circumstances 
stated of all who who were baptized, which could 
not apply to infants. Now, my friend, I call this 
sound reasoning — reasoning so conclusive, that I 
glory in being able to adopt it on the present occasion. 
Whether, with the exception of the apostles, any of 
John's disciples were present, or not, I neither pre- 
tend nor care to decide ; for I maintain, that if there 
were, they were not now baptized : — and why ? Be- 
cause there are certain circumstances stated of all 
who were now baptized, which could not apply to 
John's disciples. What those circumstances were, 
it is unnecessary to repeat."* 

The next quotation which we beg leave to lay 
before our reader's attention, and which tends to 
establish the point in hand,, is from the minutes of 
the New-York Baptist Association for 1821. 

"Now concerning this ordinance [baptism] we shall 
endeavour, so far as our limits will justify, to show 
its institution, its essentials^ its ends, and its glory. 

1. " Its. institution. This was coeval with the 
Gospel dispensation to which it belongs. But as 
the true origin of the Gospel dispensation has been 
overlooked, so also has that of Christian baptism, 

* Fuller's Conversations on Mixed Communion, p. 60. 

4* 



42 POPERY STRIPPED 

its constant associate ; and those acts by which they 
were only extended, have been taken for those by 
which they were originated. The occasion of this 
oversight seems to have been the confounding of 
the origin of the Gospel dispensation with the origin 
of the Gospel church, between which, however, 
some considerable time must have elapsed. 

" The Gospel dispensation manifestly originated 
with the ministry of John ; which is expressly call- 
ed" * The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 
and proved to be such by the citation of an Old 
Testament prediction on the subject.* And what- 
ever attempts, of late, have been made to attach 
some other meaning to these words, several of the 
ablest advocates for infant baptism have understood 
them as we do. Dr. Lightfoot, for instance, says ? 
1 Mark calls the ministry and baptism of John the 
beginning of the Gospel.^ And Mr. Henri/, on the 
place, says, ' In John's preaching and baptizing 
there was the beginning of the Gospel doctrines 
and ordinances, and the first fruits of them.' Cal- 
vin, too, it should seem, was of the same opinion, 
for he considered the ministry of John, and that of 
Christ and his apostles, as one and the same : ' It 
is certain,' said he, * that the ministry of John was 
precisely the same as that which was afterward com- 
mitted to the apostles — the sameness of their doc- 
trine,' continues he, ' shows their baptism to have 
been the same.' And of the twelve whom Paul 
found at Ephesus,J he says, ' I grant that the bap- 
tism they had received was the true baptism of 

* Mark i. 1—4. t Works, vol. 1. p. 208. t Acts xix. 1—7. 



OF ITS GARB. 43 

John, and the very same with the baptism of Christ ; 
but I deny,' adds he, ' that they were baptized 
again.'* The twilight, though not so great as the 
light after sunrise, nevertheless belongs to the day ; 
so the preaching of John, though not so luminous 
as that of the apostles, and subsequent ministers, 
belonged notwithstanding to the Gospel day. Indeed, 
to affirm, as many do, that the ministry of John was 
not under the Gospel dispensation, is, in effect, to af- 
firm that the ministry of Christ was not under this 
dispensation ; for they both preached the same doc- 
trine, and began their ministry in the same words, f 
But, that Christ, in the use of these words, preach- 
ed the Gospel, is positively asserted ; % therefore, as 
the ministry and baptism of Christ were under the 
Gospel dispensation, so also must have been those 
of John. 

" Nevertheless, the Gospel church did not begin 
with John's ministry, nor even with that of Christ ; 
for in the words just referred to, not only John, but 
Christ also, at the commencement of his ministry, 
announced the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel 
church,, not as come, but at hand,, just about to be 
ushered in. Mark, indeed, calls the Gospel church 
the kingdom of God,, mentions it as that of which 
Christ in his preaching treated, and distinguishes it 
from the Gospel: 'Jesus came into Galilee preach- 
ing' — what ? ' the Gospel,' the glad tidings of or 
concerning — what ? ' the kingdom of God,'' and 
saying, 'the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of 

* Inst. b. iv. chap. 15, § 7, 18. t Matt. iii. 2. iv. 17. 

t Mark i. 14, 15. 



44 POPERY STRIPPED 

God, the Gospel church, is at hand : Repent ye, 
and believe the Gospel,' without which, as if he had 
said, You eannot, of right, enter into this kingdom. 
That the two evangelists record but the same in- 
stance of Christ's preaching, every one may see by 
comparing Matt. iv. 12 — 17 y with Mark i. 14, 15. 

"The design, in fact, of John's mission was, not to 
form a church, but that, in his ministry, he might 
be instrumental in preparing materials for one under 
Christ ; to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord* 

" The precise time and act at and by which the 
form of a Gospel church was given to the disciples 
of Christ, is somewhat doubtful. In relation to this 
subject, however, we may observe the following 
things: 1. The Gospel church does not seem to 
have been organized during the public labours of 
John ; who, k is highly probable, never was a mem- 
ber of it, and who certainly never was a preacher 
in it. For although, in the light given through his 
ministry, John was not inferior, but even superior to 
any among the prophets under the Old Testament,, 
yet ' the leasf among the true prophets, that is, 
the true ministers ' in the kingdom of heaven] the 
Gospel church, c is greater than he;' not as a saint, 
but in the light of his ministry.! 2. It is certain 
that the form of a church was given to the disciples, 
before the conclusion, (although not at. the com- 
mencement) of the public ministry of Christ ; for he 
gave them directions for the treatment of each other 
in that relation : ' If he shall neglect to hear them, 
* Lukei. 17. t Matt. xi. 11.. Luke vii 28., 



OF ITS GARB. 45 

tell it unto the church — if he neglect to hear the 
church, let him,' &c.* 3. It is evident, that from 
the time the Gospel church was organized, those 
who were converted under the ministry of John, 
and who were by him baptized, progressively be- 
came united and associated in church relation with 
those who were called and baptized under the 
ministry of Christ and his apostles. For, when one 
was to be chosen to the aposlleship, in the room of 
Judas, Peter said, ' Of these men which have com- 
panied with us all the time the Lord Jesus went in 
and out among us, "beginning from the baptism of 
John, unto that same day that he was taken up from 
us, must one be ordained,' &c.f 

"This accounts for the different periods at which 
baptism and the Lord's supper were instituted. Bap- 
tism being a pre-requisite to church membership, 
and, of course, to communion at the Lord's table, 
[see Acts ii. 41, 42.] accompanied the Gospel, be- 
fore a Gospel church existed ; but the supper, as it 
was designed for the use of a congregated church, 
as such, was not instituted till such church was 
formed. Comp. Matt, xviii. 15 — 17. with Matt, 
xxvi. 26—30." 

Having succeeded in proving the truth of the 
charge we have against our close Baptist brethren 
beyond the power of contradiction, and as we have 
some regard for truth, we shall, unquestionably, be 
allowed to examine the veracity or falsity of their 
sentiments. 

Although we wish to entertain a Christian and 
* Matt, xviii. 15— 17. 



46 POPERY STRIPPED 

benevolent regard for those among whom we have 
many friends, yet we candidly acknowledge, that we 
cannot sacrifice truth to the honour of their feelings. 
We are well aware that the close Baptists think they 
have Scripture on their side ; it shall therefore be 
our duty to examine a few of those passages, which 
they bring forward in support of their peculiar no- 
tions relative to the commencement of the Gospel 
dispensation. 

One of the most prominent is that which is to be 
found in Mark i. 1 . " The beginning of the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ^ 

It cannot be denied but that the term Gospel, in 
the sacred Scriptures, has various significations, and 
consequently we must give it various applications. 
This consideration renders it important that we 
should possess a clear and definite understanding of 
the terms we use, before we presume to offer a com- 
ment on them. 

The term Gospel is Saxon, which has the same 
signification as the Latin Evangelium, which is 
translated from the original Ei/«yy«Aw, and signifies 
good news, or glad tidings. It therefore follows, 
that Moses preached a Gospel to the captive He- 
brews ; that a Gospel was preached to Abraham, 
and that another Gospel was preached by John to the 
Jews. But all these gospels were destitute of those 
ingredients which are the very essentials of the 
Gospel of Christ. 

All those gospels were gospels of promises or 
predictions ; hut the Gospel of Christ is a Gospel 
of accomplished prophecies and, verified promises. 



OP ITS GARB. 47 

When Paul makes use of the term Gospel, it has 
a very different application to what it has in the cases 
of Moses, Abraham, or John the Baptist. Take, 
for instance, the following passages : — " Whereunto 
he called you by our Gospel ;" " But is now made 
manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, ichc hath abolished death, and hath brought 
light and immortality to light through the Gospel;" 
" Remember, that Jesus Christ, of the seed of Da- 
vid, teas raised from the dead, according to my 
Gospel." 

In these passages the term Gospel has a direct 
and exclusive application to all the ordinances, cere- 
monies, and doctrines which are peculiar to the 
New Testament dispensation ; so that when we 
meet with the term Gospel, in passages like those 
just brought to view, we ought never to apply it 
but in connexion with the idea of a revelation of 
the grace of God, by means of a Mediator, who has 

1 . Obeyed the broken law of God. 

2. Who has made a satisfactory atonement (for 
the sins of the world) to Divine justice by his death. 

3. Who has been crucified, dead, and buried, and 
rose again from the dead, to the great joy of his 
friends, and the confusion of his enemies. 

4. Who has procured pardon, the favour of God, 
and eternal felicity for all who repent and believe 
in him. 

5. Who has abolished the old Mosaical law, with 
all its "carnal" ceremonies, and has given us new 
laws, with all their divine ordinances. 

6. Who has delivered us from the darkness of timely 



48 POrERY STRIPPED 

Gospels, and has brought us to enjoy the light of aft 
everlasting Gospel,* which is a clear and explicit 
exhibition of the new and spiritual covenant of grace 
to man ; in which is offered the full, free, and finish- 
ed righteousness of Christ. In this view, the Gos- 
pel of Jesus differs from the former Gospels, and 
the laws of Moses, which point us to what God has 
engaged to do for us : but the Gospel of Jesus 
Christ announces what God has done for us. 

It therefore follows, that John did not preach those 
doctrines which are peculiar to the New Testament 
dispensation, because, although his Gospel had a 
prospective, yet it had no present, full, complete, 
nor manifested Mediator connected with it, who had 
obeyed the broken lav/, made satisfaction to divine 
justice, or who had been crucified, dead, and bu- 
ried, and rose again from the dead. Consequently, 
John's Gospel was destitute of those essential in- 
gredients which are the very essence of the Gospel 
of Christ. 

Another passage which our opponents commonly 
bring forward for the purpose of persuading us to 
believe that the new dispensation commenced while 
the old one yet existed, is the following : — " The 
law and the prophets toere until John."i 

In order to give a correct idea on these words, it 
is necessary to remark, that our opponents carry the 
notion in their writings and public discourses, that 
the prophets of the old dispensation, and the cere- 
monial laws of Moses, ended ivith the commence- 
ment of the ministry of John the Baptist. But, 
* Rev. xiv. 6. t Luke xvi. 16. 



OF IT3 GARB. 49 

although the law and the prophets were until John, 
it is no proof that they ended with the commencement 
of the ministry of John ; because Christ was a pro- 
phet, and he continued after the commencement of 
John's ministry. Consequently, the idea which our 
opponents are daily fixing (with a false zeal) on this 
passage, is glaringly erroneous, criminally false, and 
surprisingly dangerous. 

Again, the Jews wrested and put false glosses 
on the writings of the prophets^ in which spiritual 
things were promised under the notion of temporal 
ones, which they did not understand ; wherefore 
their religious notions were become secularized, 
and the genuine nature of the Gospel kingdom had 
not been preached. But since the time of John the 
Baptist (who was sent to reform the notions of the 
Jews), the spirituality of the Messiah's kingdom has 
been preached, with all its mysteries of grace and 
glory hereafter. 

But to preach the spirituality of the Messiah's 
kingdom, and to say that it is established, (or to 
say that the laws and ceremonies peculiar to it are 
in force) are very different ideas; because to admit 
the veracity of the former, would accord with the 
sacred writings ; but to admit the latter, would be 
an admission diametrically opposed to the inspired, 
apostle, who says, " for where a testament is, there 
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 
For a testament is of force after men are dead; 
otherwise it is of no strength at all lohile the tes- 
tator liveth." 

A clear and definite understanding- of the word 



50 POPERY STRIPPED 

" Testament," which the apostle has employed in 
this place, appears to be all that is necessary to set- 
tle the point in question. 

A Testament is an expression of the will of a 
person, who entertains apprehensions of his decease, 
in which he bequeaths his property, and enacts laws, 
or expresses what he would have done after his de- 
mise, but which is not in force till it is signed by 
his hand, and sealed by his death. 

Therefore, the Gospel covenant could not be in 
force at the commencement of John's ministry, 
because, 

First, the laws peculiar to it were not in force, 
for no one ever yet pretended that the laws peculiar 
to the eucharist were then enacted. 

Secondly, The New Testament could not be in 
force at the time of John's ministry, because it was 
not sealed by the death of Christ, without which 
"it is of no strength at all, for where a testament 
is there must also of necessity be the death of the 
testator"* 

The Old Testament or covenant was confined to 
the Jews, or the followers of Moses, and in strict 
accordance with it, our Lord carefully charged his 
disciples, " not to go into the way of the Gentiles ,"f 
but to tell us that the New Testament covenant com- 
menced with the ministry of John, and at the same 
time tell us that the Gentiles were not to participate 
in its blessings, is ambiguous, ominous, and homo- 
geneal to fixing a falsehood on the predictions of 
the prophets, and the declarations of the apostles. 
* Heb. ix. 15, 16. 17. t Matt. x. 5. 



OF ITS GARE. 51 

There are three things necessary to the completion 
of the Gospel covenant, which, when considered, 
show that it could not commence till the crucifixion 
of Christ. 

First, Christ must render a complete obedience 
to the laws of Moses, which was not done till his 
death. 

Secondly, Before it was possible for the Gospel 
will, or "testament" to be completed, it must be 
sealed by the blood of Christ, therefore, 

Thirdly, The laws peculiar to that will, or testa- 
ment, could not be in force till it was finished, com- 
pleted, and sealed. 

Jesus Christ is called the " testator of the New 
Testament," to which character three things are es- 
sential. 

1. He must have a will. 

2. He must experience death. 

3. He must have one or more administrators. 
But at the commencement of John's ministry, the 

will of Christ was not drawn up, he had not tasted 
death, neither had he made known his administra- 
tors. 

Now to tell us that his will, with all the laws pe- 
culiar to it, are binding previous to the demise of 
the testator or will maker, is repugnant to common 
sense, illogical to an extreme, and contrary to the 
laws of God and man. 

The new will, or Gospel covenant, could not be 
in force at the commencement of John's ministry, 
because the very idea of a covenant implies a law, and 
a law is a rule or guide for intelligent and sentimental 



52 POPERY STRIPPED 

beings in their moral and religious actions. But it 
must be admitted on all hands, that all the laws of 
the New Testament, were not given to man at the 
commencement of John's ministry, for no one ever 
yet maintained, that the laws of the eucharist were 
then enacted. 

Jesus Christ is called the surety of the New Tes- 
tament, which implies that he took the whole debt 
upon himself which his people had incurred ; conse- 
quently the Gospel covenant (or dispensation) could 
not be in force till he had discharged that debt, which 
was not done till he gave himself a sacrifice on the 
cross for the transgressions of his people. 

The laws of the Old and New Testaments are of 
such a nature as to make it impossible for a man to 
be subject to them both at one time, and therefore, 
the laws and ceremonies of the Old Testament must 
be null and void, before the laws and ceremonies of 
the New Testament can be enforced. 

Now the very means which are essential to the 
abrogation of the first testament laws, and the en- 
forcing of the second testament laws, had not been 
employed at the commencement of John's ministry, 
which are these, 

First, The laws of Moses must be fulfilled pre- 
vious to their abrogation,, which was not done till the 
death of Christ. 

To tell us that the Gospel dispensation commenced 
loith John's ministry, is tantamount to saying that 
its laws were in force at that time ; and to say that 
the laws peculiar to the Gospel dispensation were in 
force at that time, is equivalent to saying, that the 



OF ITS GARB. 53 

types had no antitype, that the Mosaical laws had 
no fulfilment, and that divine justice was satisfied 
without the demands it had previously made, which 
is a reflection on the character of God, falsifies the 
writings of the prophets, and gives a flat contradic- 
tion to logic, reason, and revelation.* 

Secondly, The antitype of all the types must be 
developed before they can be done away, which 
was not till the death of Christ. 

To tell us that the new dispensation commenced 
with the ministry of John, is equal to saying that a 
dispensation was ushered in, in which there are no 
types ; and to say that a dispensation was ushered 
in, in which there are no types, is tantamount to 
saying, that the Jewish types are done away. But 
how could those types be done away previous to 
the development of their antitype ? did not they 
point to their antitype ? and were not they to conti- 
nue in force till the manifestation of their antitype? 
It would be in vain to reply, that Jesus Christ, who 
was the antitype of ail the types, was then upon 
earth ; because, although this may be admitted as a 
truth, yet he had not at that time fulfilled the bro- 
ken law, nor satisfied divine justice ; consequently, 
he had not fully manifested himself as the antitype 
of all the types. 

The veil of the temple was an emblem of the 
great mysteries which hung over the work of re- 
demption ; but that was not rent previous to the de- 
mise of Christ. 

* Matt. v. 17, 18, 19. 

5* 



54 POPERY STRIPPED 

The high priest entering the veil of the temple 
prefigured Christ entering the holiest of all ; bin 
this was not done till his death. 

The shedding of the blood of bulls was a type of 
the shedding of the blood of Christ; but this was 
not done when John the Baptist commenced his mi- 
nistry.. How then eould the types have received 
their completion*? and until they had received their 
completion, how could they be done away I and un- 
til then, how is it possible that the old dispensation 
could have closed,, or that the new one could- have 
commenced ? The doctrine of our opponents is 
tantamount to saying, that the Jewish models had 
no representations ;. that their pre figurations had no 
corresponding events, and that their ceremonies were 
heathenish and ridiculous. It. presents the Old Tes- 
tament a dry and unentertaining history ; robs it of 
its most useful instructions, and deprives it of its 
evangelical charms. Moreover, their doctrine robs 
the types of their emblems, the figures of their beau- 
ties, and the- priests, of their dignity.. Yea, it renders 
ridiculous the temple of Solomon, transplaces the 
ceremonies of the Jews, and presents the Old Tes- 
tament prophets to the world at large as contempti- 
ble impostors-. 

Secondly. The close Baptists believe, that the 
law and ceremony of Christian baptism were estab- 
lished in the Jewish dispensation, or that John's 
baptism was an ordinance peculiar to the Christian 
covenant. 

The close Baptists have not, to our knowledge, 
ever maintained tkat the Jewish, dispensation closed 



OF ITS GARB. 55 

with the ministry of John. But we have many do- 
cuments on hand, which go to show, that they be- 
lieve that the old dispensation continued down to 
the death of Christ. Nay, this is so generally ad- 
mitted, (and never, to our knowledge, denied), that 
to attempt to prove it, would be like proving that 
the stars, with all their satellites, are governed by 
invariable laws ; that the brain is the seat of the 
mind, or that Popery exists in America. But for 
them to maintain that the laws, doctrines, and cere- 
monies, peculiar to the Christian testament were 
established in the Jewish dispensation is dissonant, 
and diametrically opposed to the symbolical and 
metaphorical doctrines of him who said, " No man 
seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment ; else 
the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the 
old, and the rent is made worse. And no man put- 
teih new wine into old bottles ; else the new wine 
doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled ; but 
new ivine must be put into new bottles J 3 

To say that the new cloth of the Gospel doctrines 
was attached to the old garment of the Jewish cere- 
monies, or that the new wine of the spiritual king- 
dom was put into the old ceremonial bottles of the 
Jews, is certainly something like saying, that the 
law and Gospel were mixed together. But if they 
were, the spirit of the Gospel would have been lost, 
and a linsey-woolsey garment of righteousness made, 
which would not have beautified the church, nor 
presented her as a chaste bride, well adorned for her 
husband ; and yet our close Baptist brethren are 
attempting to mix the Jewish and Christian cere^ 



56 POPERY STRIPPED 

monies together, and this they do, by insisting upon 
it from Dan to Beersheba, that the law and ceremo- 
nies peculiar to the Gospel dispensation, were esta- 
blished and enforced while the Jewish dispensation 
yet existed : for it is well known that they, by all 
their commentators, publications, and discourses, 
are incessantly, with all the emphasis of which they 
are capable, insisting upon it, that John's baptism was 
a Christian baptism, or that it was a ceremony pe- 
culiar to the Christian dispensation. And yet they 
maintain, that the Jewish dispensation then existed. 
But, since they are so strenuous and tenacious on 
this point, we shall undoubtedly be allowed to give 
it an impartial investigation ; and in order to do so, 
it shall be our duty to demonstrate the following 
propositions : — 

First, A Ithough John required repentance of the 
Pharisees and Sadducees, as a prerequisite to bap* 
tism, yet there is no proof that such a condition ivas 
demanded in all cases. 

Provided we should succeed in proving that John's 
baptism was not an ordinance peculiar to the Chris- 
tian dispensation, and that it was a mere Jewish 
ceremony, yet even then it would be no wonder that 
he should have required repentance, or a change of 
sentiment, of the Pharisees and Sadducees who 
presented themselves as candidates for that ceremo- 
ny, when their heretical sentiments, and their hypo- 
critical conduct are considered. 

The Pharisees believed that the souls of the 
wicked went directly to hell without appearing at 
the judgment bar, and that the promised Messiah 



OF ITS GARB. 57 

was merely a temporal king. The very best of 
them indulged in every sinful thought, and wicked 
practice, while others, under a garb of religion, grati- 
fied themselves in cruelty, dishonesty, and oppres- 
sion. They were excessively zealous for the oral 
laws, and preferred them to the oracles of God, and 
thus they placed themselves in the chair of Moses 
by preferring the traditions of the elders to his laws. 

They dictated works of morality, mercy, and 
charity, but would not perform them. 

They made broad their phylacteries, and enlar- 
ged the borders of their garments. They loved the 
uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in 
the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and 
to be called of men, rabbi, rabbi. 

They devoured widows' houses, and for a pre- 
tence made long prayers, and compassed sea and 
land to make one proselyte, and having done so, they 
made him two fold more the child of hell. 

They were blind guides, teaching, that whosoever 
swore by the temple, it Was nothing, and whosoever 
swore by the gold of the altar, it was nothing, but 
that whosoever swore by the gift that was upon it, 
he was guilty ; thus they were rancorous hypocrites, 
who with an unhallowed and fiery zeal, strained at 
gnats and swallowed camels, by paying tithe of 
mint, anise, and cummin, but yet omitted the 
weightier matters of the law, such as judgment, 
mercy, and faith. 

They paid a rigid attendance to their external 
forms and ceremonies, but neglected the hidden 
man of the mind, and although they appeared like 



58 POPERY STRIPPED 

beautiful and whited sepulchres without, yet they 
were as polluted as Manasseh, as vile as the Sodom- 
ites, and as destitute of odoriferous savours as se- 
pulchres filled with putrified matter and all un- 
cleanness ; yea, they were as deceitful as serpents, 
as poisonous as vipers, and as wretched as the in- 
habitants of the bottomless pit. 

They stoned the venerable prophets who were 
sent unto them ; they crucified the servants of the 
Most High ; they violently persecuted our Saviour, 
and did all they could to entangle him in his talk. 
And although they made high pretensions to excel 
all others in holiness, yet they were superstitious, 
mercenary, haughty, and deceitful ; hence, they 
were left to fill up the measure of their iniquity, until 
God destroyed them and their city.* 

The Sadducees were not behind the Pharisees 
in wickedness and error, for it is said, that Hyrca- 
nus, the royal high priest of the Jews, threatened 
his subjects with death if they would not become 
Sadducees. His sons, Aristobulus and Janneus, 
were not much less zealous ; and during the reign 
of the latter, the whole Sanhedrim, except one Si^ 
mon, are said to have been Sadducees, who were 
zealous opposers of Christ and his disciples. 

They taught that there were no rewards or punish- 
ments, nor even life in a future state. They believ- 
ed that God was the only immaterial being, that 
there was no created angel or spirit, and that there 
was no resurrection of the dead. They concluded 

* Matt, xxiii. Luke xvi. 



OF ITS GARB. 59 

that men were absolutely masters of all their actions, 
and that they needed no assistance to do good, or to 
forbear evil ; thus they threw off all apprehensions 
of a future account or judgment. 

Now, although John required repentance of these 
wicked Pharisees and Sadducees, it does not, by 
any means, prove that such a condition was de- 
manded at the hands of the Caraites, or the more 
spiritual Jews ; at any rate, we are confident that 
such a condition was not demanded in the case of 
Christ's baptism. 

Secondly. — The disciples of John and Jesus 
Christ, were not in possession of those Christian 
graces which are essential prerequisites to all the ad- 
ministrators and candidates of Christian baptism. 

That John the Baptist, and others of his coad- 
jutors, were in possession of those graces is not de- 
nied. But that all the candidates and administrators 
were not in possession of all those Christian graces 
and that knowledge, which are essential prerequi- 
sites to a scriptural administration of Christian bap- 
tism, we hasten to prove. 

The Baptist commentators, authors, and divines, 
have invariably maintained that a belief in the spiritu- 
ality of Christ's kingdom, and in the death, burial, 
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are essential pre- 
requisites to a scriptural administration of Chris- 
tian baptism. To this we give our undivided assent ; 
but that all the administrators and candidates of that 
baptism, practised previous to the resurrection of 
Christ, did not possess a faith in these essential 
doctrines, is perfectly easy to demonstrate. 



60 POPERY STRIPPED 

The disciples of Christ and their adherents, were 
the administrators and candidates of that baptism ;* 
and nothing can be more evident than the appalling 
and incontestable fact, that they were not in posses- 
sion of that knowledge and faith which are essen- 
tial to a proper and legal administration of Christian 
baptism, for it is evident that the disciples of Christ, 
in common with the Jews, imbibed the idea that 
Christ (the Messiah) was come to set up a tempo- 
ral kingdom ; in proof of this let the candid reader 
consult the account, (with its context) which we 
have recorded of the old lady bringing her two sons, 
and praying, that one of them might sit on the right, 
the other on the left hand of Christ in his temporal 
kingdom. 

Now that this indulgent and fondling mother, was 
labouring under the mistaken notion of the Jews 
in general, that the Messiah was come to set up a 
temporal kingdom, is clearly inferrible, if not de- 
monstrable, from the reply which Christ made to 
her, saying, " ye know notivhat ye ask" 

While this parental request is a manifestation of 
the lively exercise and full development of philo- 
progenitiveness, it equally shows that her religious 
notions were secularized, and consequently she 
ardently desired for her two sons, that one might be- 
come prime minister of state, and the other 

THE LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF THE PRIVY COUN- 
CIL, AND KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL. And when 

the ten disciples heard this request, they were mov- 
ed with indignation against the two brethren, be- 

*Johniv. 2. 



OF ITS GARB. <34 

cause they considered that they had a prior claim 
to these posts of temporal honours. They then 
began warmly to contend among themselves who 
should fill these offices of statety grandeur and car- 
nal emolument.* 

That the notions of Christ's disciples relative to 
his kingdom were secularized, is farther evident 
from the account we have of " Simon Peter, who 
having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's 
servant and cut off his ear," undoubtedly supposing 
that the kingdom which his leader was come to set 
up was a temporal one, and that it must be support- 
ed by temporal means, therefore, Peter, one of the 
disciples of Christ, was not in possession of those 
sentiments, nor of those graces which are essential 
to the administrators and candidates of Christian 
baptism. 

This is farther evident from that well known ob- 
servation which Christ made to him, namely, " when 
thou art converted strengthen thy brethren" While 
these words are expressive of Christ's prospective 
desire for the conversion of Peter, they are also a 
striking indication that Peter had not as yet expe- 
rienced a spiritual procreation, and that he imbibed 
erroneous sentiments relative to the Messiah's king- 
dom, as his warm and energetic contentions (about 
superiority, and posts of honour, and emolument in 
that supposed worldly kingdom) abundantly proves. 

Therefore, these being the sentiments of some if 
not all of Christ's disciples prior to his death, serves 
as an incontestable demonstration, that they did not 

* Matt, xx 2D, 21, 22, 23, 24. 
6 



62 POPERY STRIPPED 

believe in the spirituality of Christ's kingdom.* 
Wherefore, they could not be in possession of those 
sentiments, nor of those Christian graces which are 
all important and essential prerequisites to a scrip- 
tural administration of Christian baptism. This 
being the case with Christ's disciples, what can we 
expect of those to whom they administered John's 
baptism. 

The close Baptists have invariably maintained, 
that a possession of the Holy Spirit is an essential 
prerequisite to a proper administration of Christian 
baptism, but that some of the disciples who had re- 
ceived John's baptism, did not possess this prere- 
quisite, is evident from the confession which they 
made to Paul, " toe have not so much as heard 
whether there be any Holy Ghost." From this 
sincere and candid confession, "it would seem that 
these disciples were not baptized by John himself, 
and who perhaps had never seen him, but who had 
been baptized by John's disciples, and very proba- 
bly were baptized in the name of John, without 
even hearing of the Holy Ghost," hence, we con- 
clude that these are the only legitimate reasons to 
be assigned, why these disciples should have been 
so totally ignorant of the operations of the Holy 
Spirit. 

We are aware that our opponents in order to get 
rid of the opposition which this account f offers to 
their cause, attempt to make a difference between 
the " ordinary " and " extraordinary " apostolical 

* John xviii. 10. t Acts xix. 2. 



OF ITS GARB. 63 

operations of the Holy Ghost, but we wish to re- 
mind them that these words* are a second and mo- 
dern addition of their own, that their notion is found- 
ed on a mere inference, and that we have as much 
right to draw inferences as they, if so, they ought 
not to persecute us for so doing. 

Thirdly. — There is no 'proof that John's bap- 
tism was administered in connexion with the essen- 
tial prerequisites of Christian baptism. 

We cheerfully accede to the sentiments of our 
opponents, when they say " baptism is rightly ad- 
ministered by immersion, or dipping the whole 
body of the party in water, in the name of the Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to Christ's 
institution, and the practice of the apostles," but they 
have not yet deduced a single instance of John's bap- 
tism being administered in all these essential names« 
We are aware that they infer it was, yea, and so 
does the church of Rome infer, that transubstan- 
tiation is an apostolical doctrine, and so did Simon 
Magus infer, that by virtue of his money he could 
obtain the power of bestowing the miraculous gifts 
of the Holy Ghost ; and Simon Magus like our op- 
ponents can very easily draw inferences, but what 
we complain of most is, that they make those in- 
ferences (illogical and illegitimate as they are), 
terms of communion, but still their inferences are 
not demonstrations, so far from this, that some of 
the subjects of John's baptism were totally ignorant 
of the Holy Spirit. Neither is there any evidence 

* Ordinary, Extraordinary. 



64 POPERY STRIPPED 

that they had "so much as heard ivhether there be 
any Holy Ghost," although they had been baptized 
unto John's baptism. 

We are aware that our opponents endeavour to 
fix a different construction on the passage in ques- 
tion, and we are also aware that if the sacred Scrip- 
tures were subjected to such a rule of interpretation, 
a considerable injury would be done to the good 
cause of Christianity. But alas, modern as well 
as ancient Pilates are determined in support of 
partyism, even to the sacrifice of Christ and his 
cause. 

Although the foregoing remarks may prove insuf- 
ficient to surmount the sophistical prejudices of our 
opponents, yet we are persuaded that the following 
syllabus, or insymphious truths are sufficient to 
convince every impartial reader, that there is an es- 
sential difference between Christian baptism and 
John's baptism. 

Christian baptism has It does not appear that 
a formula of administra- John's baptism had any 
tion, viz. in the name of formula, and it is certain 
the Father, Son, and Holy that it had not the same 
Ghost, Matt, xxviii. 19. as Christian baptism, 

Acts xix. 2. 

All the proper subjects The subjects of John's 

of Christian baptism are baptism were members 

and must previously be of the Jewish church, 
members of the church 
of Christ. 



OF ITS GARB. 



65 



It would be a flagrant 
and heinous crime for a 
baptized and professing 
Christian to be a mem- 
ber of the Jewish church, 
and subject to the Jew- 
ish laws. 



The subjects of John's 
baptism continued mem- 
bers of the Jewish church 
without being guilty of 
violating any law by so 
doing". 



Those who are proper 
subjects of Christian bap- 
tism, ought to partake of 
the holy eucharist. 



John's baptism did not 
bind its subjects to par- 
take of the eucharist, be- 
cause its laws were not 
then established. 



Christian baptism finds 
all its proper subjects in 
Christ, and in the pre- 
sent enjoyment of spiri- 



tual blessings. 



John's baptism was a 
preparatory rite, refer- 
ringiXs subjects to Christ, 
who was about to confer 
on them spiritual bless- 
inffs, Matt. iii. 11. 



Our being baptized 
with Christian baptism, 
in the name of the Fa- 
ther, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, signifies our par- 
taking of the benefits 
of the new covenant of 
grace, and seals our spi- 
ritual union to Christ. 



The subjects of John's 
baptism were so far from 
partaking of the bless- 
ings of the new covenant 
of grace, that they did not 
understand them, Acts 
xviii. 25. xix. 1 — 6. 



Christian baptism is 
called "Baptism for the 
dead" because it is a bap- 



The subjects of John's 
baptism were not requi- 
red to believe that Christ 



m 



POPERY STRIPPED 



tism into the faith and 
profession of Christ, be- 
ing risen from the dead. 



was risen from the dead. 
Acts xviii. 25. 



The administration of 
Christian baptism signi- 
fies that its subjects are 
become dead to the Mo- 
saical law, Col. iii. 3. 



The subjects of John's 
baptism were bound in 
duty to be obedient and 
alive to the Jewish laws, 
Matt. v. 23, 24. viii. 4. 
Mark i. 44. Luke v. 14. 



The administration of 
Christian baptism signi- 
fies that the party bap- 
tized engages to be sub- 
ject to the laws of the 
New Testament. 



It was not expected 
that the subjects of John's 
baptism would be subject 
to the laws of the New 
Testament,because those 
laws were not then enact- 
ed, Heb. ix.. 15—17.. 



Christian baptism is 
designed to represent the 
three essential characters 
by which God has dis- 
tinguished himself. 



The subjects of John r s 
baptism confessed that 
they w T ere entirely igno- 
rant of one of the essen- 
tial characters by which 
Jehovah has distinguish- 
ed himself, Acts xix. 2. 



The administrators of The administrators of 



Christian baptism have 
and must enforce the ab- 
rogation of the Jewish 
laws, Heb. vii. 4. Col. 
iii. 3. 



John's baptism enforced 
the essentiality of being 
subject to the Jewish 
laws, Matt. v. 23, 24. 
viii. 4. Mark i. 44. Luke 
v. 14. 



OF ITS GARB. 67 

Since the above syllabus, or insymphious truths, 
are calculated to convince the impartial reader,, that 
the baptism of John did not belong to the Christian 
covenant, it will be natural for him to inquire to what 
dispensation it did belong. To this we reply, that 
many learned divines have concluded, that baptism 
was practised among the Jews ; and we think it is 
more than probable that this rite or ceremony com- 
menced immediately after the flood. 

Dr. Doddridge says, "It is strange that any should 
doubt of this, when it is plain, from express pas- 
sages in the Jewish law, that no Jew, who had 
lived like a Gentile for one day, could be restored to 
the communion of his church without it. Compare 
Num. xix. 19, 20, and many other precepts relating 
to ceremonial pollutions, in which it may be seen 
that the Jews were rendered incapable of appearing 
before God in the tabernacle or temple till they 
were washed." 

Baptism is called a washing,* which is an emblem 
of purification: Jacob and his family attended to this 
ceremony before they approached to God at Bethel.f 

The Hebrews attended to the ceremony of wash- 
ing before they entered into covenant with God at 
Sinai. £ Aaron and his sons washed themselves be- 
fore they entered the priestly office. § It therefore 
must appear evident to the candid reader, that John's 
baptism did belong to the Jewish dispensation. 

The settlement of this point, however, is not so 
important as it is to ascertain that it did not belong 

* Acts xxii. 16. t Gen. xxxv. 2. 
jExod. xix. 14, §Excd. xxix. 4 



68 POPERY STRIPPED 

to the Christian dispensation, and that it did not,, 
we think the foregoing remarks incontestably prove. 
Wherefore, we beg leave to waive any further re- 
marks on this point for the present, and to leave the 
reader to the free exercise of his sentimental and 
reflecting faculties. 

Thirdly. — Although the close Baptists say that 
the new and spiritual covenant, or Gospel dispensa- 
tion commenced with the ministry of John, yet they 
believe that the old or Jeiuish dispensation continued 
down to the death of Christ, and therefore they pro- 
pagate the doctrine that the two covenants with the 
laws peculiar to them, existed and were in force 
at one time. 

We have already shown, that our opponents be- 
lieve, that the new covenant dispensation com- 
menced with the ministry or baptism of John. But 
we have no occasion to prove that they believe the 
old or Jewish covenant continued down to the death 
of Christ, because this is already admitted, and no 
w r here denied. Now, that this doctrine is a relic 
of Popery, and pregnant with the foulest error that 
was ever broached in Christendom, we pledge our- 
selves to demonstrate. There is abundance of ^evi- 
dence which tends to show that this is a papistical 
doctrine, for it is to be seen in almost every page, pub- 
lished by the church of Rome. It is interwoven with 
almost all her ceremonies. And in our humble opi- 
nion this antiscriptural dogma has been the principal 
source of that flood of error into which that church 
has fallen, and with which every church in Christen- 
dom is more or less tainted. 



OF ITS GARB. 69 

For does the papal hierarchy want the doctrine 
of the infallibility of congregated popes and cardi- 
nals ? they appeal not to Paul after his Christian 
change, but to the conduct of Peter previous to his 
conversion. Do they want the doctrine of extreme 
unction ? they pass over the epistolary writings of 
the Christian apostles (which should be their only 
guide to the formation of a Christian church) and 
appeal to the historical records of the Jews. Do 
they want the doctrine of prayers to saints and an- 
gels ? they appeal to facts which transpired pre- 
vious to the establishment of the Christian church. 

Having shown under our first head, that the two 
dispensations did not exist at one time, it only re- 
mains for us to discharge the painful duty of ex- 
posing the errors of our opponents. 

In doing so we will not do to them as they have 
done unto us, namely, light up the fagots of perse- 
cution, but we Avill hold up the torch of evangelical 
truth. We will not follow them with unfounded re- 
proaches, but we will candidly expose their errors. 
We will not seek to debase their characters merely 
because they differ in sentiment from us, but we 
will seek for the reformation of their notions, by ex- 
posing their dogmas. 

If the New Testament dispensation commenced 
with John's ministry, as our opponents affirm, then 
John and Jesus Christ were ministers of that dis- 
pensation. If they were ministers of the New Tes- 
tament dispensation, then the precedents they set 
are binding upon us,, consequently, 



70 POPERY STR1PPEB 

We must inculcate a subjection to the Jewish 
laws, for they did so.* 

We must be members of the Jewish, church for 
they were. 

We must keep the Jewish Sabbath, for they did. 

We must subject ourselves to the ceremony of 
circumcision, for they did. 

We must assentto the ceremony of washing the dis- 
ciples' feet, for Jesus Christ has set us the example.f 

We must not baptize in the name of the Holy 
Spirit, for there is no proof that John did 4 

The juxtaposition of the doctrine of our oppo- 
nents with that of the New Testament, is an amal- 
gamation which presents the church to the world 
at large, (not as a chaste bride well adorned for her 
husband but), as a spiritual fornicator. Because 

The New Testament speaks of a Jewish and 
Christian covenant which ought not to be confound- 
ed, because they differ in their promissory and pre- 
ceptive parts ; but our opponents have presented 
them to the world, (not in a workmanship-like man- 
ner), but in a promiscuous confusion ; and by way of 
exposing their ideas, and throwing light on this sub- 
ject, we will contrast the Jewish and Christian cove- 
nants by the following syllabus or insymphious ob- 
servations. 

The Christian cove- The Jewish covenant 
nant is a system of liber- was a system of restraint,, 
ty which frees men from which bound men, and 
and makes the perform- inflicted penalties on 

* Matt. v. 23, 24, and viii. 4. Mark i, 44. Luke v. 14, 
t John xiii. 5. t Acts xlx. 2^ 



OF ITS GA'UB. 



71 



ance of specific, or Jew- 
ish ceremonies illegal. 



them in case of non per- 
formance of specific ce- 
remonies. 



It would be absurd and 
wicked beyond descrip- 
tion, to practice the cere- 
mony of circumcision in 
this Christian dispensa- 
tion. 



It was perfectly legal 
and a part and parcel of 
righteousness to prac- 
tice the law and ceremo- 
ny of circumcision in 
John's dispensation. 



The work of redemp- 
tion depended on Christ 
performing all the con- 
ditions annexed to it, and 
the Christian dispensa- 
tion could not be ushered 
in until that work was 
completed, and those con- 
ditions discharged. Matt, 
iii. 15. Luke xxiv. 26. 
Phil. ii. 7, 10. 



Christ had not per- 
formed all the conditions 
annexed to the work of 
redemption, during the 
time of John's ministry, 
and therefore, the new 
covenant could not then 
have been completed. 



In the Christian dis- 
pensation there is not a 
yearly remembrance of 
the sins of the people. 
Heb. ix. 25, 26. 



In the Jewish dispen- 
sation there was a yearly 
remembrance of the sins 
of the people, Jer. xxxi. 
34. 



The Christian cove- 
nant with all its laws, are 
everlasting, and it is at- 
tended with larger gifts 
of the Holy Spirit. Jer, 
xxxii. 40. 



The Jewish covenant 
was a timely one, it has 
therefore waxed old, and 
its laws are become ob- 
solete, 



n 



POPERY STRIPPED 



The priesthood of the 
Christian covenant is un- 
changeable. Heb. ix. 
25, 26. 



The Jewish covenant 
had a changeable Priest- 
hood. 



The Christian cove- 
nant is in every sense a 
spiritual one. 



The Jewish covenant 
was in a comparative 
sense, a carnal one, Heb. 
vii. 16- 



The law of the new co- 
venant was written on the 
tables of the human mind. 
Jer. xxxi. 32, 3a, 34. 
Heb. x. 16. 2 Cor.iii. 3. 



The law of the old co- 
venant was written on 
tables of stone. 



If the New Testament 
with all the laws peculiar 
to it, were in force at the 
time of John's baptism, 
then it was in force be- 
fore it was sprinkled with 
the blood of Christ, and 
therefore, the types had 
no antitype. The pro- 
phets were liars and we 
are found in our sins. 
Heb. ix. 8 and to the 26th 
verse. 



The priests, the al- 
tars, and the vessels of 
the Jewish covenant, 
were never admitted to 
the services of the Jew- 
ish temple until they had 
first been sprinkled with 
blood, thereby typifying 
that the New Testament 
could not be in force un- 
til sprinkled with the 
blood of their antitype, 
which could not be done 
until that blood was shed, 
Exod. xxiv. 8. 



All the nations of the 
earth may participate in 
the blessings of the new 
covenant. 



The old covenant was 
confined to the Jewish 
nation. 



OF ITS GARB. 



73 



The Christian cove- 
nant is perfect, wanting 
nothing. 



The Jewish covenant 
was incomplete. 



In the Christian cove- 
nant God is represented 
as being but one party 
concerned. 



In the Jewish cove- 
nant God is represented 
as a supreme and abso- 
lute law giver. 



The Christian cove- 
nant has a manifested 
mediator connected with 
it. 



The Jewish covenant 
was without a manifest- 
ed mediator. 



The blessings of the 
Christian covenant are 
bestowed upon man, not 
because of what he has 
done, but on the ground 
of what Christ has done 
for him. 



The blessings of the 
Jewish covenant were 
obtained by means of 
works, and the reward to 
be given was by way of 
debt. 



The peculiar end and The end and aim of 



aim of the Christian co- 
venant is, the manifesta- 
tion of God's abounding 
grace and unchangeable 
wisdom. 



the Jewish covenant was 
the manifestation of 
God's justice. 



Paul was a servant John was a servant 

and minister of the new and minister of the old 

covenant, and preached covenant of works, and 

the abrogation of the old zealously enforced all its 

covenant with all its laws and ceremonies, 
works. 



74 POPERY STRIPPED 

Paul preached the pre- John preached the fu- 
sent existence of the ture existence of the king- 
kingdom of Christ. 2 dom of Christ, Mark i. 
Tim.i. 10. 2 Tim. ii. 8. 7. Matt. iii. 11, 12. John 

iii. 28—30. 

The Gospel of the new The Gospel of the old 

covenant which Paul covenant which John 

preached brought to light preached, enforced the 

the laws peculiar to it, laws peculiar to that co- 

and placed the laws pecu- venant, and did not make 

liar to the old covenant manifest the laws pecu- 

on the back ground. liar to the new covenant. 

These compendious, yet comprehensive observa- 
tions are sufficient to expose the erroneous and pa- 
pistical doctrines which have long tightened the cords 
of ridgidism, and under which the hierophants of the 
close Baptists shelter while they perform their un- 
hallowed work of excommunication and deceptive 
anathemas, but we are determined to seize every 
opportunity of stripping this species of Popery of 
its garb, and we humbly conceive that the following 
observations will contribute to so desirable an object. 

Such are the facilities which the sacred Scriptures 
afford to a proper understanding of the Jewish and 
Christian covenants, that they ought never to have 
been confounded ; for the Christian covenant is 
distinguished from the Jewish covenant by being 
called new.* 

1. Because of its dispensation. 

2. Because of its manifestation. 

* Heb. viii. 6, 8. 



OF ITS GARB. 13 

3. Because it is ratified by the blood of Christ. 

4. Because it is freed from the Mosaical cere- 
monies. 

5. Because the laws and conditions peculiar to 
it, could not be enforced until the laws and condi- 
tions peculiar to the old covenant were fulfilled, and 
become obsolete. 

Moreover, the very manner and means of admi- 
nistering these covenants incontestably demonstrate 
the fact, that they could not be- in force, nor be 
administered at one time, because, 

One was administered by changeable priests, but 
the other is administered by an unchangeable Priest. 

One was administered with ceremonies of typical 
blessings; the other is administered with ceremonies 
of accomplished blessings. 

One was administered with obscured prophecies, 
but the other is administered with verified promises. 

Nay, all the predictions of the prophets, and all 
the declarations of the apostles, clearly and forcibly 
demonstrate, that the new covenant could only be 
ushered in by the antitypical sacrifice of Christ; 
and therefore the notions of our opponents falsify 
the writings of the prophets, and give a flat contra- 
diction to logic, reason, and revelation. 

Having shown to every reader, whose mind is 
not biassed by prejudices, that the Jewish and 
Christian covenants could not exist at one time, let 
us now proceed to expose a few inconsistencies, 
which naturally grow out of the idea of our oppo- 
nents. 



76 POPERY STRIPPED 

1 . Their doctrine represents justice to be satis- 
fied before the penalties of the law are paid. 

2. Their idea represents God presenting to his 
church a shadow, while the substance is at hand.* 

3. Their dogma carries the idea, that the types 
were ended before the antitype was fully developed. 

4. Their notion represents the redemption of Is- 
rael to have been completed, before the redemption 
price was laid down. 

Paul affirms, saying, " For where a testament is, 
there must also of necessity be the death of the tes- 
tator. For a testament is of force after men are 
dead : otherwise it is of no strength at all while the 
testator liveth."j But our opponents affirm, saying, 
that the New Testament commenced with John's 
ministry ; which is equivalent to saying, that it com- 
menced previous to the death of the testator. This 
is giving the lie to the inspired ability of Paul, fal- 
sifies his heavenly declarations, and, as far as they are 
to be credited, they present Paul to us as an "impos- 
tor." But we will not exchange the godly, inspired, 
and heavenly declarations of Paul, for the popish 
corruptions, sophistical notions, and fallacious dog- 
mas of our opponents. 

There is another passage which bears on • the 
point in hand, and which, when deliberately and 
logically considered, is sufficient to induce our op- 
ponents to lay their unhallowed weapons of perse- 
cution at our feet, and to fix an eternal blush on 
their cheek, for having so warmly pursued the au- 

* Heb. ix. 1-4. t Heb. ix. 16, 17. 



OF ITS GARB. 77 

thor with slanderous invectives, merely for the par- 
donable crime of adopting a different conclusion to 
them. 

The passage to which we advert is to be found 
in Rom. vii. 1 — 6. "Know ye not, brethren, (for I 
speak to them that know the laiv.) how that the law 
hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For 
the woman which hath a husband is bound by the 
law to her husband, so long as he liveth ; but if the 
husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her 
husband. So then, if, while her husband liveth, 
she be married to another man, she shall be called an 
adulteress : but if her husband be dead, she is free 
from the law ; so that she is no adulteress, though 
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my 
brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the 
body of Christ; that ye should be married to ano- 
ther, even to him who is raised from the dead, that 
we should bring forth fruit unto God. Therefore 
we are delivered from the law, that being dead 
wherein we were held; that we should serve in 
newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the let- 
ter. n 

In these words the apostle has given us the figure 
of man and wife, and the law which is peculiar to 
them. Now we cannot be mistaken as to a proper 
application of this figure, because the apostle, with 
his inspired ability, has applied it himself, by the fol- 
lowing words : — " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also 
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ ; 
that ye should be married to another, even to him 
who is raised from the dead" 
7* 



T8 POrERY STRIPPED 

Here let it be distinctly marked, that Paul, in this 
figure, has denominated the church of Christ the 
" woman? He also denominates the Jewish and 
Christian covenants the two husbands of that " wo- 
man? Therefore we cannot err in arguing, that if 
the Gospel covenant commenced with the ministry 
of John, and that if the Jewish covenant continued 
down to the death of Christ, as our opponents affirm, 
then they both existed at one time ; and that if they 
both existed at one time, then the church must have 
been married to them both at the same time : if so, 
" she shall be called an adulteress? Therefore the 
doctrine, the notion, and the dogma of our oppo- 
nents, present the church of Christ to the world at 
large, as a Spiritual Fornicator. 

Consequently, the doctrine of our persecutors and 
slanderers is one of the foulest that has ever been 
broached in Christendom, and we challenge them, 
with all their talent and ingenuity, to disprove the 
veracity of our observations, the logic of our deduc- 
tions, and the soundness of our conclusions. They 
may ransack the precincts of the papal hierarchy, and 
search the universal vocabulary of error ; and they 
may direct our attention to transubstantiation, the 
infallibility of the pope, or congregated cardinals, or 
to the doctrine of relics, extreme unction, prayers to 
saints and angels, purgatory, propitiatory and salu- 
tary sacrifice of the mass, the doctrine of merits, of 
penances, venial and mortal sins, of auricular con- 
fession, pilgrimages, clerical celibacy, the doctrine 
of images, dead language services, of traditions, &c. 
&c, ^vet none of these, nor all of these, placed to-. 



OF ITS GARB. 79 

gether, are so abominable, heretical, so ignorantly 
adopted, nor so erroneously propagated, as the 
doctrine of amalgamated covenants, and spiritual 
fornication of our enthusiastical and sectarian perse- 
cutors. Therefore these divine cobblers may teach 
their cabalistical doctrine, and pursue their accusa- 
tions, until they are weary of beating the wind, and 
grasping at the stars, for we have a calm sea of con- 
science, and are wafted on with a heavenly gale, 
and therefore Ave fear not the sand bars of their bi- 
gotry, nor the quicksands of their sectarianism; and 
while we are sorry for their transgressions, and pray 
for their souls, we at the same time bid defiance to 
the warmth of their malignity, the bulls of their ex- 
communication, and their resentful accusations. 

Having shown that the Gospel dispensation did 
not commence with the ministry of John, and that 
the Jewish and Christian covenants could not exist 
at one time ; and since there is but very little light 
in the theological world on these important topics, 
it will be natural for the reader to inquire when the 
old covenant closed, and when the new one com- 
menced. 

Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, has a number 
of pointed observations on this important question, 
among which we find the following : — " Noiv of the 
things ivhicli we have spoken this is the sum : We 
have such a h ighpriest, who is seated on the right hand 
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens ; a minis- 
ter of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which 
the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high 
priest is ordained, to offer gifts and sacrifices : ivhere* 



80 POPERY STRIPPED 

fore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat 
also to offer. For if he icere on earth, he should not 
be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer 
gifts according to the laioT 

These observations of our inspired author clearly 
demonstrate the following important facts : 

First, That the new covenant must have a priest. 

Secondly, That Jesus Christ alone is the great 
High Priest of the new covenant. 

Thirdly, That the new covenant could not have 
commenced until the consecration of its Priest. 

Fourlhly, That Jesus Christ was never conse- 
crated to the priestly office until he was sprinkled 
with his own blood on the cross. 

Fifthly, That it would have been a violation of 
those laws which Christ came to fulfil, for him to 
have been a priest while upon earth. 

But in the very face of all these solemn and im- 
portant truths, our antagonists have, in their weekly 
sermons, and daily publications, spoken of and re- 
presented Christ as a priest while upon earth ; and 
w r e candidly acknowledge, that this doctrine is in 
perfect accordance with their favourite and promi- 
nent doctrine of amalgamated covenants. But alas ! 
alas ! it is in flat contradiction to the infallible de- 
claration of the inspired apostle, who expressly and 
emphatically declares, that " if he (Christ) were 
upon earth, he should not be a pi~iest" 

To represent Christ as a priest while upon earth, 
is to nullify the laws of Moses, and to represent the 
Aaronical priesthood as a usurpation, because Christ 
did not descend from the loins of Aaron, and there- 



OF ITS GARB. 81 

fore, if he had assumed the priestly office while 
upon earth, he would have been so far from making 
the law honourable, that he would have made it 
dishonourable. But false as their doctrine may be, 
they still persist in their heretical notions, knowing 
that popularity sanctifies enormity, and that secta- 
rianism consecrates the greatest errors. 

In reply to the question, When did the old dis- 
pensation close 1 we answer, 

First, When all the types and. shadows of the 
Jews were done away, which was not till the full 
development of the antitype of all the types, and 
which could not be until the death and resurrection 
of Christ. 

Secondly, The old dispensation did not close until 
all the laws peculiar to it were fulfilled ; and when 
was that? when Christ appeared as a babe in Beth- 
lehem? no; because we find him subject to those 
laws after that time. Well : was it when John 
commenced his ministry ? O no ; for Christ enforced 
a subjection to them after that time. Well, when 
then ? why, not until he had "fulfilled all righteous- 
ness :" i. e. every jot and tittle of the law; offered 
up the sacrifice of himself, and " exclaimed on the 
cross, It is finished, and gave up the ghost" 

The fulfilment of the Mosaical law — the comple- 
tion of the Jewish types — the ushering in of the 
gospel covenant — and, the acheavement of the re- 
demption of the church, was attended with so many 
extraordinary phenomena, that he, who is disposed 
to learn may read ; let us look at a few of them. 

" Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama 



82 POPERY STRIPPED 

Sabachthani," as though he were left alone to com- 
plete the great work, or, as though he would make 
the whole earth know, that he had finished the great 
work of fulfilling the law. 

" The earth did quake," she rolled upon her axis, 
bid defiance to the unerring laws by which she had 
been governed for ages, and staggered to and fro 
like a drunken man, as though she were determined 
on convincing her unbelieving inhabitants, that a 
revolution had taken place in the kingdom of God. 

" The rocks were rent" Ah, yes ! those massy 
and monotonous rocks which were cemented by 
the laws of nature, and silvered with age, and which 
which for four thousand years had maintained their 
position, and which had long bid defiance to 
the mightiest machinery, and the mechanical ge- 
nius of man, yet they were cloven asunder, and 
opened their yawning mouths, and fell into millen- 
iary mounds ; as though they were determined to 
lend their voice to check the lunacy of man, and 
speak with the voice of oratory, and convince every 
impartial man, that a strange event had taken place, 
or that the old dispensation had closed, and that the 
new one had just commenced. 

" And the graves were opened, and many bodies 
which slept, arose, and came out of their graves af- 
ter his resurrection, and went into the holy city, 
and appeared unto many" 

Good God, the grave which has from the earliest 
period opened her mouth to receive, and offer a re- 
pose to the sleeping inhabitants of the earth, yet 
now she will no longer hush them in their slumbers, 



OF ITS GARB. 83 

nor rock them in their repose, because a great and 
momentous work is to be done, she therefore, gives 
them an irresistible, yet welcome commission to go 
" into the holy city" with their fallen cheeks, their 
sunken eyes, and their meagre visage, to witness to 
the completion of the types, the fulfilment of the 
law, and the ushering in of the Gospel dispensation. 

"And the guards mere frighted." Ah, yes! 
those mighty men who were elected from the heroic 
soldiery of the Jewish sanhedrim and elected too 
because of their bravery and valour, yet these men 
with their iron like nerves, their masculine counte- 
nances, their athletic, august, and royal visibility, 
impanapled as they were with the implements of 
defence, death, and destruction — Ah, even they, 
with their prancing horses, their terrific and war- 
like phenomenon seemed to bid defiance to terror 
and to death, yet they alarmed and terrified, swoon- 
ed away, and "fell like dead men" as though the 
laws of nature compelled them against their desire, 
to be witnesses of the "finishing" of the Jewish, 
and the ushering in of the Gospel dispensation. 

" And behold the veil of the temple was rent in 
tivainfrom the top to the bottom." The veil of the 
temple, the holiest of all, in which none but the high 
priest was allowed to enter, and which was the sa- 
cred repository of the holy law, erected by an espe- 
cial command from God ; adorned with the archi- 
tectural wisdom of Solomon, and the wealth of the 
Jews, and which had stood for ages as the scientific 
monument, and proud masterpiece of architectural 
grandeur, which was the pride of the Jews, the 



84 POPERY STRIPPED 

boast of nations, and the glory of mortal ingeniusness. 
Yet it notwithstanding its cloud-clapped towers, its 
silver utensils, and its golden decorations was clo- 
ven asunder, and fell with one tremendous crush, so 
that not one stone wes left upon another ; and now 
the City of Jerusalem lies in gloomy ruins, to show 
the outlines of its faded greatness. There stands no 
remnant of the temple, which once was the orna- 
ment of that splendid city ; whose arts and sciences 
have become extinct, her painters, who beautified 
every thing they touched, are buried for ever, her 
poets, whose loud and angelic anthems, echoed 
within the splendid walls of that beautiful temple, 
have hung their harps upon the willows, and have 
ceased to sing the songs of Zion. The waters of 
the mighty ocean no longer carry their proud ships 
to her merchants. 

But why, ah, why did God throw down this splen- 
did temple, " the holiest of all" which was erected 
by his own special command, and which, for ages, 
had been appropriated to his honour and glory, ah, 
why because he wanted it no longer, the antitype 
had appeared, consequently he cared not for the 
types. The substance was at hand, therefore he 
wanted not the shadows, justice was satisfied, and 
he wanted no more bleeding sacrifices. The law 
was fulfilled, and he cared not for its repository, an 
everlasting righteousness was brought in, and he 
cared not for external ceremonies. 

The Jewish services had received their comple- 
tion ; consequently, he wanted not the temple ; 
wherefore he threw down the Jewish, that he might 



OF ITS GARB. 85 

erect a Christian temple. He bad long had a tem- 
ple adapted to Jewish ceremonies ; but now, (the 
Gospel dispensation was ushered -in) he would have 
a temple peculiar to Christian worshippers. 

These incontrovertible facts, wonderful revela- 
tions, and extraordinary phenomena, are sufficient 
to designate the time, when the old dispensation 
closed, and when the new covenant commenced. 

With regard to the question, When did the new or 
Gospel dispensation commence ? we would remind 
the reader, that the Prophet Jeremiah has offered a 
solution -of this important inquiry — " Behold, the 
days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new 
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the 
house of Judah ; not according to the covenant that 
I made with their fathers, in the day that I took 
them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of 
Egypt : but this shall be the covenant that I will 
make with the house of Israel-; after those days, 
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward 
parts, and write them in their minds,* and will be 
to them a God, and they -shall be to me a people." 

Now if we can ascertain the precise time when 
this prediction was fulfilled, or when God put his 
law in their inward parts, and wrote them in their 
minds, then we may learn the precise time when 

* There is no more philosophy in rendering the word " heart," 
than there is in reading, ' / will write my law irC their great toe ; 
because "the one is no more the seat of the intellectual faculties than 
the other. Consequently, in all such passages as these we prefer 
the word mind ; 1. Because it is better philosophy. 2. Because re- 
velation is always addressed, not to the heart, but to the mind, or the 
intellectual faculties. 

8 



86 POPERY STRIPPED 

the new dispensation commenced. And lest we 
should be mistaken as to a proper application of 
this prophecy, Paul, in the eighth chapter of his 
epistle to the Hebrews, 9th, 10th, and 13th verses, 
has taken it up, and applied it to the outpouring of 
the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when God liter- 
ally wrote the law of the new covenant in the minds 
of the apostles. 

The foregoing remarks are in perfect harmony 
with that well known declaration of the apostle : — 
" Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be 
the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written 
not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God : 
not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the 
heart."* 

Again, the new and Gospel dispensation com- 
menced when the way of salvation by Christ was 
fully developed, and clearly manifested, which was 
not done till the death of Christ, or, as the apostle 
expresses himself, " Having obtained eternal re- 
demption for us, not by the blood of goats and calves, 
but by his own blood, he entered once into the holy 
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us ;" 
which was not done till his death. 

But the apostle is still more clear and positive on 
this subject, in the following account of the temple 
and its ceremonies : — " Then verily the first cove- 
nant had also ordinances of divine service, and a 
worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle 
made, the first wherein was the candlestick, and the 

* 2 Cor. iii. 3. 



OF ITS GARB. 87 

table, and the shew-bread ; which is called the sanc- 
tuary. And after the second vail, the tabernacle 
which is called the Holiest of all; which had the 
golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid 
round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot 
that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and 
the tables of the covenant; and over it the che- 
rubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat; of which 
we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these 
things were thus ordained, the priests went always 
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service 
of God : but into the second went the high priest 
alone once every year, not without blood, which he 
offered for himself, and for the errors of t\\e people: 
the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into 
the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while 
as the first tabernacle was yet standing." 

In order to obtain a clear and definite understand- 
ing of the apostle's remarks in the above quotation, 
it is necessary to observe, that the Jews were in the 
habit of confounding the terms " tabernacle''' and 
" temple"* and that by the term tabernacle in this 
place, the apostle means that part of the tabernacle 
which was carried into the temple,f and which stood 
as long as the temple. 

Now the inspired apostle (who certainly knew as 
much about the new covenant as our opponents, and 
who we must believe before them,) expressly de- 
clares, that by the standing of the tabernacle or 
temple, the Holy Ghost thereby signified that the 

* 1 Sam. i. 9. & iii. 3. Heb. ix. 8. 
t 2 Chmn.i. 4, 5, 13., 



8S POPERY STRIPPED 

way into the holiest of all, (heaven) was not yet 
made manifest, so*, long as the first tabernacle ser- 
vices were legally performed. Now the perform- 
ance of those services were positively legal until 
the demise of Christ, or until God rent the vail of 
the temple, which was not done until Christ expired 
on the cross.* Wherefore we clearly perceive by 
these arguments, that the ceremonies of the new 
covenant were not introduced until the ceremonies 
of the old one were done away;, and that the new 
and spiritual tabernacle was not erected until the old 
or Jewish one was "rent in twain from the top to the 
bottom;" and that Christ did not become ihe Priest 
of the new covenant until he had abolished the 
priesthood of the old dispensation, which was done 
by fulfilling the law and making it honourable; by 
proving himself to be the Antitype of all the types r 
and by answering to all the predictions of the pro- 
phets, none of which were completed until the de- 
cease of Christ. 

Fourth ly. — The close Baptists literally close the 
doors of their churches against even the most emi- 
nent unbaptized 'saints-, and believe such rigid 
conduct to be right. 

It is universally admitted, and generally main- 
tained, that it is a flagrant crime, and a violation of 
the laws of Christ, to refuse or reject a humble fol- 
lower of the meek and lowly Jesus. 

Now, if ignorance can form- an apology for sin, 
then knowledge must tend to heighthen crime. I£ 

* Matt, xxyii. 51.. 



OF ITS GARB. 89 

idolatry be a sin in heathen nations, it would be 
much more so in Christian nations. 

If the sons of Italy may be condemned for im- 
bibing the errors of popery, then the sons of Co- 
lumbia may- be more justly censured for the same 
crime, because they having the light, are thereby 
offered greater facilities to flee from darkness. 

In like manner, if it be wrong for an infidel who 
(in consequence of his ignorance of the laws of 
Christ.) rejects a saint, then it is a crime much 
more aggravated, for believers to reject believers, 
w T hich conduct is rigidly pursued by the persecut- 
ing and close Baptists, as we shall hereafter show. 

Fifthly. — The close Baptists persecute us, be- 
cause we will not assist them to propagate their 
erroneous and aniiscriptural doctrine. 

That they have most maliciously persecuted us, 
and that those persecutions have been inflicted on 
the author purely and exclusively because he 
differs from them in sentiment, will be fully shown 
in the following sheets, and that the}?- have denied 
that this is the ground of their persecutions, know- 
ing, as they do, that a generous public would not 
sanction them, is readily admitted, and that they 
have feigned some other cause for their conduct, has 
never been denied, but that such pretensions are 
wickedly invented, hypocritically pursued, and fal- 
laciously insinuated we shall not fail to demonstrate. 

We strongly condemn the work of persecution 
on the ground of difference in sentiment, but if it 
were justifiable who deserves it more than our slan- 
derous enemies, for we have shown in a manner, 
8* 



90 POPERY STRIPPED 

not to be confuted that they in the nineteenth cen- 
tury are propagating one of the foulest errors ever 
broached in the precincts of corruption. 

If our opponents should be displeased with the 
preceding remarks, they must remember that they 
have no. one to blame but themselves, because their 
unmanly and unhallowed persecutions have been 
the generating cause of these candid observations, 
and frightful exposure of their antiscriptural doctrines, 
unphilosophical notions, immethodical deductions, 
and their papistical dogmas. 

To the courteous reader, who may mistake ouf 
candid and straight forward manner of exposing the 
errors and unchristian conduct of our enemies for a 
want of Christian charity, we observe, that the an- 
gelic principle of Christian charity, manifests itself 
in seeking for t ! :e reformation of our fellow men by 
lifting up a standard against the flood of error, and 
preventing, if possible, a representation of the church 
to the world, as a spiritual fornicator, because while 
her charms and excellencies are thus perverted, by 
the clumsy brushers, and papistical paintings of 
our misguided opponents, it is not likely that genu- 
ine converts, will be brought to her embraces, and 
when we declare that a vindication of our rights, the 
reformation of our enemies,, and a desire that the 
church of Christ should be presented to the world 
at large, as a chaste bride well adorned for her hus- 
band, are our principal reasons for thus appearing 
before the public, the generous reader will no doubt 
pardon every error, which may be found in the pre- 
ceding or succeeding pages, especially so, when 



OF ITS GARB. 91 

he is informed that during the time we have been 
writing these lines, and embodying these observa- 
tions, I have been unavoidably more than one hun- 
dred and fifty miles from every volume of my library 
except my New Testament. 

11 Ad referendum" 



OF ITS GARB. 93 



CHAPTER II, 

A NARRATION OP EVENTS AND FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE- COM- 
MENCEMENT OF THE PERSECUTION AGAINST THE AUTHOR. PROV- 
ING IT TO HAVE BEEN INFLICTED ON HIM IN CONSEQUENCE OF HIS 
RELIGIOUS OR OPEN COMMUNION SENTIMENT. 

I found the Baptist ministers, especially they of 
New York, remarkably rigid and tenacious on the 
subject of close communion. Nevertheless, I fear- 
lessly avowed myself to be an open communionist. 
Therefore, I and others of my English friends who 
were of the same sentiment, hired a room which we 
opened for divine worship, in which we inculcated 
those open and liberal ideas which we apprehended 
to be in unison with those of Christ and his apostles. 

But previous to that, we drew up an advertise- 
ment, announcing to the public our intention, which 
advertisement was headed "Union Baptists," and 
carried to the editor of the Baptist Repository,* 
with a request that he would insert it in his paper. 
When he saw that it was headed with that anti- 
sectarian term, he called most earnestly, like some 
one just aroused from a deep slumber, for an ex- 
planation of that uncommon application. When 
he was informed it was designed to signify, that 
although we were Baptists, we commemorated 
the Lord's broken body, and the spilling of his 
* Mr.. C. P. Crosbv. 



94 POPERY STRIPPED 

blood with all the Lord's people, baptized or un- 
baptized, his feelings appeared to be still further dis- 
turbed ; he also expressed himself amazingly asto- 
nished that such a doctrine should have its advocates 
in these days. Although an editor of a public paper, 
he appeared to be completely ignorant of the fact, 
that such a sentiment had its advocates among the 
first rate divines, and much more so, that the apos- 
tles had given precedents to establish that doctrine.* 
Consequently he cast the advertisement from him 
with an air of contempt, observing, that he was de- 
termined that his paper should never be lent to propa- 
gate such an inconsistency!. Ah, no! such bigots 
never like to have their infallibility questioned. 
Such open, liberal, and Christlike sentiments should 
never be allowed to adorn his sectarian sheets ! 
Having bound down the people under a sectarian 
idea, nothing must be done that is likely to achieve 
their salvation from rigidism, or that will in the least 
induce them to dislike their bonds, and desire their 
liberty from a popish yoke. 

Well, our advertisement being refused, it was 
taken to a more respectable quarter, namely, to the 
editor of the Christian Observer, where it was in a 
gentlemanly and in a Christian manner received and 
inserted. 

The week following, the editor of the Baptist 
Repository threw out a number of squinting obser- 
vations, by means of his paper, relative to the above 
advertisement. Neither was his bigoted, contracted, 

* According to their own hypothesis. 



OF ITS GARB. 95 

and rancorous mind satisfied with that, for lie also 
threw out a number of gross insinuations (not proofs) 
against my name and character,* undoubtedly with 
a design to cast me under the prejudices of the peo- 
ple, and so prevent them from listening to what I 
have to say in support of open communion. 

The following week my friend, Mr. Wood wrote 
him a letter, in which he confronted all the slan- 
derous, libellous, and unchristian attacks of that 
wicked editor. We will here present the reader 
with a copy of that letter. 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BAPTIST REPOSITORY, 
No. 4 Bower y. 

No. 107 Pitt-street, New-York, April 19, 1832. 
The unchristian abuse of a Modern Emigrant refuted. 
Sir, 

Having noticed an opprobrious article in your last week's paper, 
impeaching the character of the Rev. J. M. Horner, I feel it my 
duty, in the name of humanity and Christian philanthropy, to cor- 
rect the mistake into which you have fallen ; I therefore entreat that 
you will, for the sake of your profession, and the character of your 
publication, insert the following in your next. 

Mr. H. has many intimate friends in this country, and hundreds 
in England, who are well acquainted with him and the history of 
his life, but none of them more so than myself. Through his 
instrumentality, scores in my native county of Northampton and 
its vicinity were brought to a knowledge of the truth, among which 
number was myself. By his recommendation and sanction I entered 
the important office of the ministry ; since then I have travelled with 
him by night and by day; I have lived with him, and have been ac- 
quainted with his private transactions and his public engagements. 
Since he has been in this city he has lived at my house ; yet I have 
not seen or heard any thing of his deportment contrary to a Chris- 
tian character. In the year 1822 Air. H. entered the office of the 
ministry, being recommended to his congregation and to the public at 

* Baptist Repository, April 13, 1832. 



96 POPERY STRIPPED 

large by a signature, which, to every enlightened and liberal man, 
proves suificient evidence, namely, that of Robert Hall, D. D. 
then of Leicester, but late of Bristol.* 

We afterward find him recommended to the Christian world by 
his church ar.d congregation at Rounds, Northamptonshire. In 
another place we find him spoken of as a respectable minister of 
Jesus Christ.t And when this mass of testimonials are given, and 
when I think of the many more which I could give, if time would 
permit, I cannot help feeling insulted by your sarcastical productions 
and unchristian insinuations. 

What you mean by insinuating that he is not a Baptist minister, 
I am at a loss to know, unless you mean to serve him as the rigid 
Antinomian Baptists served Robert Hal!, who disowned that respect- 
able divine as a Baptist minister because he was an open commu- 
nion ist. 

But your statement is palpably false, for Mr. Horner is received 
aa a Baptist minister, not only by me, but by many others in this 
city. But although Mr. Borner is an open communionist, yet, if 
you had heard him declare his sentiments on the subject of baptism, 
as I have, you would have thought him to be a Baptist indeed. 

I have questioned Mr. H. on the ground of his showing you no 
credentials, who says, that he came to this city without any design 
to ask you or your colleagues for any favour, and therefore thought 
that there was no need of showing you his credentials, or that any 
of you would presume to ask him for them under such circumstances. 
Nevertheless I have used my utmost endeavours to persuade him to 
do so. If there was any sin in heading the advertisement " Union 
Baptist," I beg you will charge it upon me; because it was I who 
drew it up; and when I consider the liberal sentiments of Mr. H.. 
and his union with other denominations, I cannot but think that he 
has as legitimate claims to the term " Union Baptist" as any other 
minister. 

If you had had sufficient candour to have told us the name or na- 
ture of " Mr. Horner's pretensions, to which you have alluded, I 
would have offered you my assistance toward satisfying you whe- 
ther they were "questionable" or unquestionable "pretensions;" 
but since you have left us in the dark on this important matter, we 
must remain in this blindfolded dilemma until your humanity con- 
descends to enlighten our darkness. 

* Con. Mag. vol. VIII. p. 332. 
t Baptist Repository for 1828, p. 79. 



OF ITS GARB. 97 

As for Mr. Horner's great boldness, to which you advert, it is, 
in my opinion, an evidence of that innocence, which always inspires 
its possessors with confidence and assurance. 

For'the-sake of convincing the public that your insinuations are 
unfounded, I copy the following from Mr. Horner's recommenda- 
tory documents : — 

To the Baptist Denomination. 
"Mr. Horner's recommendatory paper to me contains a signa- 
ture, which, to every enlightened and liberal man, proves sufficient, 
namely, that of Robert Hall, of Leicester, late of Bristol. 

"J. WILKS,. M. P. London:' 

Having given you the testimonies of two of the most eminent and 
unexceptionable characters in all England, I now present you with 
a document which is got up for the purpose of being published in 
your paper. 

New-York, Jan. 30, 1833. 
" We, the undersigned, do hereby testify, that we knew Mr. 
Horner in England, and that he is a man of good character, and 
a useful and much respected Baptist minister. 

William Wood, i Ministers of 
Jonathan Parker, i the Gospel. 
Jonathan York, 
William Pentelgw. 

Being able to give you these respectable testimonies, which no 
man of good principles can question, I hope that before you again 
attempt to destroy the character of a stranger, by loading him with 
scorn and obloquy, as you have done my friend, Mr. Horner, you 
will regard the grand motto of " Do unto others as you would they 
s\ould do unto you." W. WOOD." 

But did the editor insert that letter ? Ah, no .' by 
no means; because that would bring his doings into 
question and disrepute ; that would expose his per- 
secuting spirit; that would bring to public view that 
which he most of all desired to be kept secret; for 
he "loves darkness rather than light, because his 
deeds are evil ;" if not, why did he keep the letter 

9 



98 POPERY STRIPPED 

in secrecy? The only reasons he assigned for not 
publishing it were, 1. it was not fit for publication ; 
2. it would do Mr. H. no good. In these rotten 
apologies and hypocritical excuses, he develops the 
immeasurable heights and depths of his vanity. 
Why should he, with his impotent mind and con- 
tracted views, suppose that Mr. Wood is not as ca- 
pable of judging of the propriety of its publication as 
himself? Why should he, with his consummate 
ignorance, arrogate to himself the exclusive right to 
judge on a subject on which he has no right to judge, 
not merely because of his contracted and grovelling 
mind, but because it is a case which immediately 
refers to himself, and one in which he is deeply 
interested. 

He was the aggressor, therefore unqualified to be 
a judge in his own case. "Because it will do you 
no good !" what is that to him ? He had commenced 
an attack on our character and advertisement, con- 
sequently reason and all good principles demand that 
we should be allowed to make our defence in our 
own way, he brought black accusations against us 
before the public ; therefore the public alone had a 
right to judge between us. He took a hop, skip, and 
jump in the dark, and he must have fallen into destruc- 
tion had he not clung to his power to control his paper. 

If editors of public papers are to be allowed to 
attack names and characters without a cause, then 
no individual is safe, however virtuous his principles 
or upright his deportment. When they manifest 
such desperate principles, their subscribers act in- 
consistent to lend them their patronage. As for 



OF ITS GARB. 99 

ourselves, we feel disposed to do all in our power to 
cast such editors, with their papers, on the shelf, and 
sanctify them to eternal silence. 

We have no desire to do or wish any man any 
harm ; but surely, we may be permitted to wish our 
editor would emigrate to Lisbon or Madrid, where 
his desperate principles are the order of the day : 
for as he has most evidently been sucking at the 
breast of popery, and cradled in the wilderness of 
despotism, he cannot be happy in this land of liberty. 
We therefore hope that it will not be considered a 
breach of good manners to say, that we wish every 
man to enjoy his native climate. 

We should be ungrateful not to acknowledge with 
gratitude the obligations under which Mr. Wood has 
laid us, by his kind mediation in this case, and 
beg to inform him and the public, that although the 
editor stated " the letter was not fit for publication/' 
yet it has had such a check upon him, that he has 
digressed in the paths of slander. 

These unrighteous enemies, being well aware that 
a generous public w r ould discountenance and con- 
demn their persecuting a man because of a differ- 
ence in sentiment, have turned round about, and 
now pretend that the reason why they have employ- 
ed their newspapers and pamphlets against us, is 
because Mr. H. is a bad character, or because he 
has no credentials. But in order to drive them from 
this hypocritical ground, and to show the public that 
their wilful and malicious charge is entirely desti- 
tute of truth, we will here give the testimonials of 

LrfC! 



100 POPERY STRIPPED 

a few of their own churches, for which Mr. H. hz& 
laboured. 

The Baptist Church in New Hartford and Burlington, Conn, 
called a church meeting, at which we have examined the credentials 
of Mr. Horner, Baptist Minister, do hereby testify that they are 
satisfactory. 

Signed in behalf of the Church, 

ELISHA NEAL, Deacon. 
Burlington, Conn. July 14, 1833. 

Litchfield, Aug. 26, 1833. 
We, the undersigned, members of the First Baptist Church in 
Litchfield, Conn, hereby testify, that we called a church meeting, at 
which we have examined the credentials of Mr. Horner, Baptist 
Minister, and that we have found them satisfactory. 

ISAAC HART, 
DAVID MANSFIELD. 

Scituate, R. I. March 30, 1834. 
At a meeting for public worship, holden at the New Baptist 
Meeting-house, in Scituate, by the Rev. Mr. Horner, after public 
exercises were dismissed, the brethren tarried and read Mr. Hor- 
ner's credentials, which gave us satisfaction that, he, as a minister of 
the Gospel, has received the approbation of the churches where he 
has laboured, and to all whom it may concern, we give it as our 
opinion that he is a devoted minister of the Gospel of Christ, and in 
good, standing as such. 

Signed in behalf of the Church. 

WILLIAM GREEN, Clerk. 

Newport, R. I. &h mo. 1, 1834. 

This is to certify, that the Baptist Church meeting in Chill-street, 
Newport, have examined the credentials of Elder J. Horner, for* 
merly of England, now 'of Litchfield, Conn, and are satisfied from 
them, and from his preaching, with which they have been favoured 
in his visit to this place, he is an able and worthy minister of Jesus. 
Christ. 

Done for and in behalf of the Church, 

JAMES A. M'KENZIE, Pastor* 



OF ITS GARB. 101 

Warwick, November 2, 1834. 
This may certify, that the General Baptist Church at Phenix 
village, Warwick, have been privileged with having the preaching 
of the Rev. J. M. Horner, formerly of England, now of Litch- 
field. Conn, and having also examined his credentials, we believe 
him to be sound on the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, and an 
able minister of the New Testament. 

HENRY TATEM, Pastor, 
CALEB POTTER, Deacon. 

Some of these churches belong to their own As- 
sociations, which have connexions, and correspond 
with, the Warwick, Hudson River, and Danbury 
Associations. They also act on the close com- 
munion principles, and they positively knew me 
to be an open communionist before they gave 
these credentials to me. Therefore it is not very 
likely that they would have given these testimo- 
nials of the goodness and respectability of my cre- 
dentials, unless those credentials had been abun- 
dantly satisfactory. I publish these evidences of 
the goodness of my credentials — the testimony of the 
great Robert Hall, D. D. and J. Wilks, M. P. also 
Mr. Wood's letter — not because I wish to satisfy my 
enemies, but because I conceive them to be highly 
calculated to convince the public that my opponents 
are guilty of circulating a slanderous falsehood 
against my name and character. 

To say that we ought to submit either our cha- 
racter or credentials to them, is like saying, that it 
was right that Christ should be judged by Caiaphas, 
and condemned by the high priests. For me to sub- 
mit myself to their investigation is like asking them 
for their opinion of me. To ask them fox their idea 
9* 



102 POPERY STRIPPED 

concerning my character is like asking a prejudiced 
and malicious Jew what he thinks of Christ,, or ask- 
ing a popish priest what he thinks of Luther.. We 
can assure the reader that we esteem it a great 
blessing to stand above the reach and control of such 
desperate characters. 

It i§ to be sincerely hoped, that we shall be so 
favoured with divine grace, as that we may be pre- 
served from the mouths of these carnivorous lions, 
and the paws of these voracious bears ; and that our 
mind will be so impressed with holy principles 
which will enable us to persevere in every good 
word and work, and live and act for him who is- the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

A Dialogue between the Editor of the Baptist Re~ 
pository and the Author, 

Whereas the editor of the Baptist Repository 
would not allow any thing to be inserted in answer 
to his scurrilous remarks about me and my charac- 
ter, I felt solicitous to have an interview with him. 
After having called at his office three or four times 
without success, I felt myself under the necessity 
of concluding that he was so far convinced of the in- 
justice of his conduct toward me, that he was in- 
duced, like Adam, to hide behind the trees or the 
curtains of his own contrivance ; consequently I 
went one morning with a determination to see him, 
if he entered the office during the day. After wait- 
ing two or three houis, several Baptist friends came- 
in, among whom were the Rev. C. Sommers, Rev. 
J. Chace, and the editor's assistant, to whom the 



OF ITS GAItE. 103 

design of my visit was introduced. After a few al- 
tercations on the inconsistency of the editor's attack, 
he came into the office. When we had exchanged 
a few observations about the weather and each 
other's health, we entered into the following contro- 
versy, which was taken down in stenographical cha- 
racters. 

Horner. Mr. Editor, did you not receive a letter 
from my friend, Mr. Wood, in answer to those ob- 
servations which you published in your paper rela- 
tive to me and my character I 

Editor. Yes, I did. 

H. May I ask why you did not insert that letter 
in your paper ? 

E. Because I did not think that it was fit for pub- 
lication, or that it would do you any good. 

H % Why is it not fit for publication 1 

E. The style of it is not good; it was drawn 
up in reprobating language. 

H. Will you show me the parts of the letter to 
which you refer ? 

E* I do. not know where it is now, but I recollect 
that was the impression made on my mind at the 
time I read it. 

H. As a man of sense you ought to be ashamed 
of such a weak, insipid excuse. I differ in opinion 
from you, inasmuch as I think the letter was too 
mild in its attack to meet the false, foul, and wicked 
insinuations which you threw out into the world 
against me, by means of your slanderous paper. 
Again, if you was determined not to publish the let- 
ter, you should have given us an opportunity of 



104 POPERY STRIPPED 

sending it to some other editor, and not have kept it 
a month or five weeks, where no one could see it 
but yourself. 

E. You might have got the letter, if you chose ; 
I do not want the letter. 

H. That cannot be true, because I have been 
here four or five times, but could not get it ; more 
than that, when I have called here, I have particu- 
larly requested the persons who were in the office 
to ask you to leave it out for me, but you have not 
done so; therefore your conduct leaves us to suspect 
that you was not willing that your design should be 
confronted in your own or any other paper ; con- 
sequently we must look at your conduct in this case 
as being a design on your part to rob me of every 
possible means of justification ; and when your slan- 
ders of my character are considered, your conduct 
in this case must be despised by every lover of 
good principles. 

E. You need not be so warm about your letter, 
man, I did not want to keep it. 

Rev. C. Sommers. I tell you what, Mr. Horner, 
I see that you have got some English blood about 
you ; you must not be so warm ; look at these Amer- 
icans, how perfectly cool and mild they are ; now 
let you and I try to imitate them. 

H. It may be acknowledged that in my contro- 
versies I have considerable feeling and action about 
me, but I do not feel that rancor of mind as may be 
concluded you suppose me to be laboring under. 
(A laugh.) A keenness of feeling may be mani- 
fested without a bad temper. You point us to the mild- 



OF ITS GARB. 105 

ness of the Americans. Yes, these Americans may 
and ought to be mild and draw in their horns in a 
case like this, in which they have not only broken 
the laws of the land by committing a libel against 
me, but have run over the bounds of prudence and 
every Christian principle. But, sir,letme ask you, 
were the Americans mild when they like me were 
trampled upon by a despot ? What, sir, were they 
mild at the time of the revolutionary war when- they 
were struggling for their liberties as though they 
were struggling for their lives — when they threw 
their banners in the air — pointed their implements 
of war at the hearts of their enemies, — made 
thousands of virtuous women widows, and innocent 
children fatherless — when they made the earth blush 
with crimson red, and turned the waters of their 
rivers into blood — and after having accomplished 
their ends, made the air ring and echo with their 
shouts and acclamations of joy. I say did they ap- 
pear like mild and innocent sort of beings at that 
time ? No, sir, they felt then as I do now the awful' 
weight of despotism, of Popish usurpation, and 
unmanly conduct. And a man that had no keen, 
feelings in a case like theirs, or in my present situa- 
tion, we may say was a drone, or that he possessed 
but a littleness of mind. You say, sir, that I am 
warm ; yes, and well I may be, but you cannot 
w 7 onder at this when you take a proper view of the 
case. Observe, I am a stranger from a foreign 
country— ever since I set my feet on these shores I 
have been subject to, and sought to obey the laws 
of this country — in, no case have I broken them to 



106 POPERY STitlPPEfi 

my knowledge. During the time I have been here 
I have not asked any man for a single cent ; I never 
asked, no, not even you, Bishops of York, to allow 
me to saddle your influence by which to ride to a 
fat benefice. 

Again, this editor, comparatively speaking knows 
nothing about me ; he cannot prove, no, nor he never 
attempted to prove any immorality against my char* 
acter ; yet he has employed his public newspaper 
against me in which he has sent to the world at 
large such scurrilous, sarcastical, and unchristian 
insinuations which could not have been invented by 
a fair and dispassionate mind ; nevertheless, they 
will undoubtedly tend to prejudice the unthinking 
part of the community against me, in which 1 have 
no doubt he has done his best to close every door 
against the exercise of my religious functions, and 
prevent me from the enjoyment of a piece of bread 
in this land of plenty. But thank Heaven, his ma- 
licious desires are curbed and controlled by a 
stronger power than that of his own. 

S. I really think brother Crosby, that you have 
done wrong ; I am sorry that it has happened. 

E. I will serve every one so that comes here 
without credentials. Men have no right to come to 
our churches except we know who they are. 

H. You must be a very unfair man. What, sir, 
do you think that every Englishman who comes 
here will submit themselves to your ordeal — throw 
themselves at your feet, while you scrutinize their 
motives for emigrating, when they do not ask you 
for a single cent, or a favor of any description ? — * 



OF ITS GARB. 107 

Yon must have a strange idea of yourself, or ima- 
gine that you are more important than you really 
are. In order to get a clear view of the case apply 
it to yourself, and suppose that I have a long estab- 
lished paper which has a wide circulation — that you 
are a stranger from some distant shore — that your 
friends in this city are not numerous — that before 
you have had time to form any connexions or es- 
tablish your character — I say suppose that I employ 
that paper to represent you as a mendicant — a 
" questionable" character — as one who ought to be 
shunned and dreaded by all — I say suppose that I 
were to do this and much more against you merely 
because you differed from me in sentiment. What 
would you think of such a species of conduct ? 

E. You are wrong when you say it was for dif- 
ference in sentiment. It was because you had no 
credentials. 

H. Then you did exceedingly wrong, because I 
have brought credentials of the most respectable 
character, consisting not merely of scraps of writing, 
but of documents inserted and published in respect- 
able magazines, where they may be read by enemies 
as well as friends.* 

E. But you have not shown them. 

H. That is false. 

E. You have not shown them to me. 

H. That may be true. 

E. Well, if you will bring them to me I will in- 
sert them and undo all that I have done. 

* Congregational Magazine, page 332. 



1*08 POPERY STRIPPED 

H. You cannot do that, for you have already pre- 
judiced the minds of the people, and when the pub- 
lic have been persuaded that a person's character 
is a bad, it is hard and sometimes impossible to 
persuade them that it is good. Besides I be- 
lieve you to be my violent enemy, therefore it is 
not very likely that I can take any pleasure in sub- 
mitting myself to be arraigned at your ordeal. I 
never professed to have any connexion with you in 
any shape or manner ; then of course you have no 
right with me or my character, much less to insin- 
uate that I am a bad man, when you have no evi- 
dence of it. 

[Here one broke in, and then another, in such 
rapid succession, and interfered with each other's 
statements, that it was impossible for any stenogra- 
pher to report their conversation. One turned me- 
diator between us, another made propositions ; but 
I was overcome and disgusted with the miserable 
and lame attempt of the editor to justify his reproach- 
ful conduct. After considerable altercation, I per- 
ceived the feelings of the editor to be softening down. 
Soon after that he called me to the door, as though 
he wanted to talk with me privately, when he began 
in the following manner :] — 

E. Did you not, in preaching at Scotch Plains, 
declare that Cain was a good man ? 

H. I never preached a sermon about Cain in 
Scotch Plains. 

E. I understood Brother Rodgers and the friends 
at Scotch Plains to say that you did. 

H. I cannot help that. 



OF ITS GARB. 109 

E. It is very strange that they should tell me so 
if it is not true. 

H. It shows the necessity of hearing both sides 
of the question before you condemn a man. Al- 
though I deny introducing that subject in the pulpit, 
yet I acknowledge that Mr. Rodgers and I entered 
into controversy relative to the essentiality of edu- 
cating young men for the ministry. I argued that 
a minister ought to be able and qualified to explain 
the sacred Scriptures to the people, and that it was 
impossible for him to do so, unless he were acquaint- 
ed with the original or dead languages ; and in order 
to support this argument, I selected that passage in 
Gen. iv. 13. : xitf3n ^ijj Vha nfrr *?sTp iptf*t 
which, in our version of the Scriptures, is translated 
** A nd Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment u 
greater than I can bear ;" which, in our opinion, is 
not a correct translation. Consequently it is be- 
yond the power of any one to give a correct idea of 
the text, unless he derives it from the original ; for 
nothing is more evident than that the words ought to 
have been rendered " my iniquity is greater than I 
can bear." I endeavoured to show him the great 
difference between these two translations ; for while 
the one represents Cain as complaining against 
the injustice of a merciful God for laying upon 
him more 'punishment than his physical constitution 
was able to bear. The other represents him as a 
conscious, convicted, and repenting sinner. 

[Here the Rev. J. Chase broke in and said — 
Yes, I recollect, Brother Horner, that you preached 
10 



110 POPERY STRIPPED 

from that text in this city, but I thought then that 
the ideas were of no use.] 

H. It is admitted that I have preached from the 
text in this city, but Mr. Crosby says that I preached 
from the said text at Scotch Plains, but I positively 
deny it. You say that the ideas were of no use ; 
but how dare you say that it is of no use for minis- 
ters to give correct ideas of the holy Scriptures ? 

C. Well, well, I canfiot dispute these topics of 
learning ; I must leave them to Brother Sommers, and 
the rest of you learned folks to decide. Laughter. 

The editor has here given abundant evidence of 
his contracted mind, and of his convictions that he 
has stepped beyond the bounds of prudence ; and it 
is only a persuasion that he is brought to a timely 
repentance that induces us to be so sparing in our 
animadversions on his persecuting and slanderous 
conduct. 

Note. It is worthy of remark, that although nearly 
four years have elapsed since he commenced an 
attack on my character, yet he has never ventured 
to meddle with it since. Let us hope that we may 
venture to take his silence on this subject as an evi- 
dence that he is convinced he has done wrong, and 
that he endeavoured spargere voces vulgum am- 
biguas. 



OF ITS GARB. 1 1 1 



CHAPTER III. 

An exposure of the persecuting SPIRIT, THE WICKED DESIGNi 

AND SCURRILOUS OBSERVATIONS OF THE NEW-YORK PAPISTICAL 
COUNCIL, RELATIVE TO THE INDEPENDENT CHARACTER AND LIBERAL 
SENTIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR. 

The governing few of the members of the New- 
York Baptist Association, feeling and perceiving that 
we had set the people talking about open com- 
tnunion, began to invent some neiu thing, by which 
they might set the prejudices of the people on me. 
And notwithstanding their dislike to me, and itching 
desire to find a stain in my character, the following 
is a copy of the very worst they dare say. 

"Whereas a Mr. James Horner, lately from Not- 
tingham, England, has been passing among the 
churches of this Association, professing to be a Bap- 
tist preacher, we deem it our duty to apprize the 
churches, that according to the representation of seve- 
ral ministering brethren, on whom he called, he has 
hitherto exhibited no satisfactory credentials of minis- 
terial authority from, or even membership of, any 
church of our denomination." 

This advertisement differs from many of those 
which the rigid Baptists have inserted in their pub- 
lications against me. Tt seems, in a great measure, 
destitute of that barefaced impudence and low vul- 



112 POPERY STRIPPED 

garism, which characterizes many of the sectarian 
squints which they have thrown at me by means of 
their publications. Nevertheless, it is evidently 
drawn up with the ingenuity of a crafty Parkinson, 
and the wickedness of a bigoted spirif. It mani- 
fests the desire of its author to charge me with some 
particular crime, and at the same time shows his 
incapability to do so. 

It is impregnated with scorn and derision, and 
although it is weak and insipid, yet it is highly cal- 
culated to set the prejudices of the people upon me. 

It is an amount of falsehood, slander, and a base 
insinuation. 1. It is an amount, of falsehood, be- 
cause, it says that Mr. EL has not exhibited any 
credentials. A more palpable falsehood than this 
was never invented by any man or set of men. Let 
them ask Mr. Wood, Baptist minister of New 
York, if Mr. H. has not exhibited both credentials 
and ministerial authority. Let the same question 
be put to the first Baptist Church in Danbury, that 
of South Farms, that of Litchfield, Burlington, and 
New Hartford, Connecticut. Newport, Scituate $ 
and Warwick, Rhode Island. Again, since the 
Rev. I. Rodgers, of Scotch Plains, and the 
Rev. G. S. Webb, of New Brunswick, have heard 
Mr. H. preach, let them be asked if he has not ex- 
hibited " ministerial authority." And if they answer 
no, let our enemies inform us what they mean by 
ministerial authority. For in this case the Papisti- 
cal council has acted very vague. They talk in 
great big swelling words about " ministerial author- 
ity" like so many Popish priests, who boast of an 



OP ITS GARB. 113 

apostolical succession and " ministerial authority" 
from his holiness. If our enemies mean to say- 
that Mr. H. has no authority from the gifts of na- 
ture, and the calls of God, let them tell us. If 
they mean to say that although Mr. H. may have 
"ministerial authority" from both these quarters, 
yet if he has none from a Baptist church, it is of no 
avail, let them tell us ; why keep us in suspense 
about matters which ought to be known? Why 
blindfold us for the sake of knocking us down 1 — 
Why act in this gunpowder plot fashion, for the sake 
of upsetting our holy principles, promoting sectari- 
anism, and inflicting persecution ? It seems to be 
their pleasure to dare us to produce our " ministerial 
authority" to them ; not because they wish to be 
convinced that Mr. H. possesses " ministerial au~ 
thority" but because they wish the people to believe 
that he has none. Therefore it might tend to com- 
bat their nefarious insinuations, to observe, that "I 
knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, 
whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of 
the body I cannot tell ; God knoweth : such an one 
caught up to the third heaven ;" he was also " caught 
up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words 
which it is not possible for a man to utter," and re- 
ceived an evident change — a mighty transition — a 
wonderful renovation — " of such an one I might 
glory ;" yet I forbear, for I wish no man to " think of 
me more than what he seeth me to be." Then why 
should they preach up their superior " ministerial 
authority" as they evidently do by questioning 
mine ; for, " are they of the seed of Abraham, so am 
10* 



114 POPERY STRIPPED 

I ; are they Israelites, so am I" one ; " are they 
ministers of Christ, so am I" one ; and " have la- 
boured more abundant," and suffered slanderous 
" stripes above measure ; prisons more frequent of 
the" papistical Baptists ; " five times received I five" 
reproachful stripes, save one; thrice was I threatened 
with constable's rods ;* more than once I have been 
li stoned" with their invectives, yet I have not made 
shipwreck of faith, nor of a good conscience. — 
" More than a night and a day I have been in the 
deep ; in journeyings, often in perils of waters ; in 
perils of robbers ;• in perils by" men of my own de- 
nomination,! as much so as if they had been "hea- 
then ; in perils in the city, in the" country ; " in per- 
ils in the sea ; in perils among false brethren ; in 
weariness, and painfulness ; in watchings, often ; in 
hunger and thirst ; in fastings, often ; in cold and na- 
kedness ; besides those things that are without, 
which came upon me daily ; the care," the incon- 
stancy, and distracted state of all the Baptist church- 
es, arising from a corrupted priesthood ; these things 
often rob me of my natural sleep by night, harrow 
and perplex my feelings by day, and lest I should 
be exalted above measure through the abundance of 
these " revelations," and the unusual share of expe- 

* At the time when they ordered the civil, or the uncivil ruffians, 
to turn me out of the Gold street meeting, for attempting to ask the 
Moderator the reason why they had represented me in the public 
prints as an "impostor." 

i Was it not like an attempt to rob me, when they in the most 
brutish and uncivilized manner, turned me out of the Gold street 
meeting house without allowing me time to take up my writings, 
handkerchief, books, &c, &c. 



OF ITS GARB. 115 

rience with which God has blessed me, "there was 
given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of 
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above 
measure ;" then " I besought the Lord" that " it 
might depart from me ; but he said unto me, my 
grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made 
perfect in weakness ; most gladly, therefore, will I 
glory in my infirmities," because they show me the 
necessity of depending on the imputed and justifi- 
ing righteousness of Christ ; " therefore let us" trust 
that I shall be enabled to " take pleasure in infirm- 
ities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 
in distress, for Christ's sake ; for when I am weak 
then am I strong." 

Inasmuch as a prejudiced mind is always disposed 
to pervert every thing it dislikes, there can be no 
doubt but that my enemies will charge me with glo- 
rying in myself, in this plain statement of my expe- 
rience ; but let them remember, that they have forced 
it, and that whatever opinion they may form of it I 
care not ; for " the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ" who " is blessed for evermore., know- 
efh that I lie not? 

When they talk, in great swelling words, about 
"ministerial authority" it appears remarkably no- 
vel, especially so while the following incontroverti- 
ble facts are before us, and of which there is abun- 
dant evidence in this country. 

1. That I have formed nearly as many churches 
as they have belonging to their Association. 

2. That I have preached for more churches and 



116 POrERY STRIPPED 

congregations than any minister in their Association,, 
however aged he may be. 

3. That none of those churches and congregations 
among which I have exercised my " ministerial au- 
thority" never disputed my " ministerial authority" 
before. 

Again, if my religious creed would allow, T 
might boast of a regular ordination to the work of 
the ministry by the imposition of the hands of a 
Baptist minister, according to the regular form of 
many of the Baptist churches. But I would scorn 
the idea of boasting of such " authority? except it 
came from a better quarter. 

But as they have made very free in questioning 
my " ministerial authority " perhaps they will allow 
us to take the same liberty with them. In doing so, we 
beg leave to pass over a minute reference to the de- 
portment of some of them, which, if investigated, 
might be found sufficiently base to set aside all their 
boasting and swelling pretensions to "ministerial au- 
thority ;" but merely observe, that we have had the 
honour and the pleasure, (or rather the dissatisfac- 
tion and the pain), to hear some of these reverend 
or irreverend divines ; and if called upon to judge 
of their pulpit displays, we would not merely refer 
to the number of years in which we have studied 
divinity, the hundreds of times we have been called 
upon to deliver discourses before the scrutiny of 
the best of judges ; no, nor yet to our knowledge of 
the system and rules of the science of phrenology, 
which would enable us at once to come to a tho- 



OF TTS GARB. 117 

rough knowledge of their want of " ministerial au- 
thority" as an evidence that we ought to be allowed 
to form an opinion of their " ministerial authority ;" 
but the tautology of their observations, the identity 
of their discourses with nonsense, and their aversion 
to the labours of the study, all of which evince, that 
although they may have received their " ministerial 
authority" from some little Baptist church of the 
feminine order, and glory and boast of the femina- 
lity of their " ministerial authority" yet they have 
none from the Holy Spirit. 

As an evidence of this, let the intelligent reader 
journey with us to listen to the inharmonious ha- 
rangues of a number of these our enemies, who 
make a considerable proportion of the said Associa- 
tion, and let us lend an attentive ear to their pulpit 
displays, and then we are fully persuaded that 
their inharmonious preambles, their heterodoxi- 
cal notions, their impotent arguments, their pugna- 
cious observations, their prolix descriptions of the 
sentiments of other denominations, and their algid 
manner of exhibiting what they call the doctrines 
of the Gospel, will convince us at once that their 
pretensions to superior " ministerial authority" are 
not only without a foundation, but that they are ne- 
farious and absurd. 

Again, their arrant and jumbling statement about 
the author's calling on their churches, deserves our 
consideration. The truth of the case is this — I was 
on my way from Newark to Philadelphia, when I 
heard of the Rev. I. Rodgers of Scotch Plains, 
N. J., who, I was told, was an old countryman, and 



118 POPERY STRIPPED 

who was represented to us as one who would gladly 
receive a call from, and afford us all the information 
in his power, with regard to the country and the 
state of religion in it ; and I, being a perfect stran- 
ger, and very solicitous to obtain such information, 
ventured to call on him, and found his demeanour 
to correspond with the above representation. It 
being Saturday, he, in a kind and courteous manner 
requested me to stay over the Sabbath, and preach 
for him ; and since I was desirous of spending the 
Sabbath with comfort to myself, and the glory of 
my God, I complied with his invitation. On the 
following Monday morning, after he had passed a 
few commendations on my method of sermonizing, 
and had given all the advice which he thought ne-> 
cessary, I rose to prosecute my journey, when he 
made a particular request that I would call on Mr. 
Hill, Baptist minister of Plainfield. I observed that 
I had been informed he was a young man, and there- 
fore not very likely to give me much information, 
and as I was in haste, I thought that the call wa3 
not essential. Mr. Rodgers observed, that the road 
would lead me close by the door of his house, and 
that if I did not call it would not look well ; I there- 
fore called on Mr. Hill. Subsequently he com- 
menced a warm contest about open communion. 
Having spent an hour with Mr. Hill, I rose to pur- 
sue my journey. 

It is also essential to state, that I made some in- 
quiries of Mr. Rodgers relative to a conveyance to 
Philadelphia, to which he replied, that he could give 
no information on that subject, but that if I would 



OF ITS GARB. 1 19 

call on Mr. Webb, Baptist minister of New-Bruns- 
wick, he would give me all needful instructions on 
that point. Accordingly I called on Mr. Webb, who 
received me in a kind and Christian manner, with 
an invitation to preach for him that evening. I ac- 
cordingly consented, and the next morning went on 
my journey. And this is what they call "passing 
among the churches of this Association." 

Now it is most evident that a grosser falsehood 
was never invented ; and how men, calling them- 
selves ministers of the religion of Jesus Christ, can 
associate and deliberately invent such arrant un- 
truths, is a subject that can only be reconciled by 
the consideration, that men are but men at best, and 
that these, our most malignant enemies, were never 
noted for much goodness : for the above journey can- 
not, with any veracity, be called "passing among 
the churches" but a passing among, or rather call- 
ing on three individuals. Then why call it "pass- 
ing among the churches ?" Why ? Because they 
would have it understood that I am a vile impostor, 
passing among the people merely for the sake of 
cheating and plundering them. Their wicked clause 
also implies, that their people have not a sufficient 
share of common sense to take care of themselves 
and property, and that they need their priestly inven- 
tions and consociated manoeuvring to protect them 
from roguery. What a mortification it must be to 
the people, to think that their ministers should view 
them in such a light. But it needs not an unusual 
exercise of the reflecting faculties to see a little far- 
ther into this mire of corruption, working of iniquhy, 



120 POPERY STRIPPED 

and worse than papistical priestcraft; for their state- 
ment implies, that they are afraid that others should 
share the donations of the people with them, and as 
they see their own interests are at stake, they wish 
to alarm and work on the feelings of the people, in 
order that they may the easier chain them down to 
their whims and notions. 

Observe once more, that although I complied with 
the requests of the before mentioned ministers, and 
gave them my services, they did not offer me any 
remuneration, and the idea that it was their duty to 
do so never entered my head. Then why should 
I, in consequence of acceding to their invitations, 
and giving them my services, be represesented as 
a fraudulent man, or be treated as such ? 

But is the obove statement true with regard to 
calling on Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Hill, and Mr. Webb ? 
We defy them to disprove it. Well, then, must I 
for this crime, (if a crime it be) be represented all over 
the United States as the worst of characters? is this 
a sufficient reason why they should employ all the 
pamphlets of their wicked councils, and all the public 
newspapers against me, which are controlled by 
their ungodly influence ? Can our enemies, our foul 
enemies, find in this case a sufficient, cause of justi- 
fication, for representing me as the scum of the 
earth, as a walking pestilence, who goes about for 
nothing but to rob, cheat, and defraud the people ? 

Oh ! Heaven have mercy on us ! what frightful 
and imcompassionate monsters inhabit our world ! 
whose only object is spargere voces vulgum ambi- 
guas. 



OjP its garb. 121 

"2. It is an amount of slander; for, say they, 
"Whereas a Mr. J. Horner, lately from Nottingham, 
England, has been passing among the churches of 
this Association, professing to be a Baptist preacher." 
This is designed to insinuate, that Mr. H. is a rotten 
hypocrite, professing to be what he is not. 

What] we ask with astonishment, is it possible 
that Mr. H. has baptized those who for years past 
have been engaged in the public ministry, and not 
be a Baptist ? 

Whatl is it possible that he should have entered 
the field of controversy, in support of baptism by 
immersion, for more than twelve years past, as many 
families in this country can abundantly testify, and 
yet not be a Baptist ? 

What ! is is possible that he should, during his 
short residence in this country, have vindicated the 
doctrine of adult baptism among the Presbyterian 
and Methodist friends, and not be a Baptist ? 

What ! is it possible that he should have written 
a work in support of Baptism by immersion, which 
is sent into the world, and not be a Baptist ? 

Heaven save us ; they might as well insinuate that 
Abraham was not a Jew ; that Paul was not a Chris- 
tian ; that Constantine was not a Papist ; that Wick- 
liffe was not a reformer ; and that Hungtington was 
not a Calvinist. 

But why do they send such a wicked and falla- 
cious insinuation into the world, and that through 
the medium of the sanctified minutes of their nefa- 
rious councils ? Why, evidently to throw dust in 
the eyes of the people, and set them to run upon us 
11 



122 POPERY STRIPPED 

with their eyes shut, in the same manner as a mas- 
tiff seizes the object on which it is set ? But we 
hope, nay, we may be sure, that the more sensible 
part of our Baptist friends will be on their guard 
against this priestly manoeuvre, this associated de- 
sign, and ungodly attempt, to injure my reputation, 
and pervert the minds of the people. If their insin- 
uations be found to be correct, it would appear re- 
markably novel that I should profess to be a Baptist 
preacher, and yet be a Pedobaptist ; because when 
men turn hypocrites, or profess to be what they 
are not, it is generally for the sake of gain. But 
how our enemies will make it appear that it is for 
my interest to profess to be a Baptist preacher when 
I am not one, is a mystery and a chaos, in which 
we shall leave them to play their blindfolded games, 
till they are tired of their argumentum bacculinum* 
Generally speaking, all the world knows that the 
Baptists give their ministers the smallest salaries 
of any other denomination ; then why profess to be 
a Baptist if not conscientious ? We have here 
also, an infernal insinuation ; for this advertisement 
is evidently designed to represent Mr. H. as an " im- 
postor." Now when they give such an insinuation 
of an individual who never injured one hair of their 
heads, nor " imposed" on them in any shape or 
manner ; whatever they may think, yet we are duly 
authorized to call it an infernal attempt to ruin my 
character, and a species of wickedness of the black- 
est nature. For we have here a trial without a jury, 
a statement without facts, and a sentence pronounced 
without evidence of guilt. The association goes on 



OF ITS GARB. 123 

to state that " according to the representations of 
several ministerial brethren, he has hitherto exhibi- 
ted no satisfactory credentials of ministerial autho- 
rity" It might grieve the heart of a humane infidel 
to think that those gentlemen had no more regard 
for truth, and the principles they profess, than to tell 
such gross and palpable untruths. For I have again 
and again exhibited my credentials, and they have 
again and again been satisfactory.* But perhaps 
these " several ministerial brethren" whoever they 
are, meant to say that I had not exhibited my cre- 
dentials to them ; if they did mean so they ought to 
have told us, and not left us in the dark. 

The idea of offering my rolls of parchment to 
them never entered my head, no more than it did to 
offer them to the Popish priests of this city. Per- 
haps my conduct in this particular might have given 
umbrage to their self importance ; they might think 
that Mr. H, did not pay sufficient honour to their 
dignified characters ; they might think that he ought 
to have carried his rolls of parchment and presented 
himself before them in a begging attitude. If duty 
called for it, I would now beg their pardon, and plead 
as an argument why they ought to exercise mercy 
towards me, that these things never entered my 
mind. 

I can no more my duty heed, 

Except it enters in my head, 

Than he who now is fast asleep, 

Can rise to stand upon his feet. 

+ See pages 95, 96, and 100, and Mr. Wood's letter to the editor 
of the Baptist Repository, pages 95 and 96. 



124 POPERY STRIPPED 

But a more powerful plea for the independance 
of my conduct in this case, may be borrowed from 
the fact, that I never asked them for a single cent,, a 
piece of bread, nor yet required any particular favor at 
the hands of my associated enemies. Then why 
should I be subjected to their scrutiny, and placed at 
their ordeal? I never asked them to receive me as a 
member of any of their churches. I did not pro- 
fess any consanguinity with them. I laid no claim to 
their patronage. Then why should they wish to sum- 
mons me to their carnal bar ? I never palmed myself 
upon them. I did not claim any connexion with, 
them ; neither had I any more to do with them than 
they had with me. Then why should they imagine 
that I ought to render an account to them 1 Is it 
not a species of barefaced wickedness, of unpro- 
voked impudence and. downright Popery, in dropping 
the slightest insinuation, that I ought to be account- 
able to them ? Who in the world could have thought 
of meeting with such a piece of ecclesiastical usur- 
pation and unmasked Popery in America I 

O let me take my eagle flight, 
Where liberty is known and felt, 
Where no despotic power can reign,, 
Over the souls or minds of men^ 

May I but scale the mountain top^. 
Or, dwell within some humble cot, 
W T here I may freely write and speak 
Those thoughts which reason generate*. 



OF ITS GARB. 125 

That popery should have left some of its remains 
in England, where it has long had a stately seat, is 
no wonder, but that the horns of the beast, the 
working of iniquity, and a fomentation of popish 
principles should be so far manifested in this coun- 
try, is a little alarming, beause 

Some say that John Bull killed the Pope, 

But others say, he only sleeps, 
Some say that he is yet alive, 

Though not in the United States. 

But I can set these statements right, 

For I maintain that he is here.; 
His robes and mantle I have seen, 

If not, his principles appear. 

And that's as bad as though he lived, 
'Tis not merely the man we dread, 

But popish principles abhor, 
Of despotism we're afraid. 

Then come ye sons of liberty, 

Gird on your swords and march with me, 
To slay the monster in the gate, 

Maintain you are and will be free. 

And let us strip this popery, 

And show to ages yet unborn, 
That we are men, and wont be slaves, 

For we're the sons of Washington. 

As there never was an effect without a cause, we 
may freely inquire into their design. For although 
11* 



126 POPERY STRIPPED 

we do not know what is in the mind of man, yet we 
are generally allowed to guess that when he takes 
an aim, he is about to shoot. 

We should not like to dishonour our opponents 
by supposing that they aim without an object, plan 
without design, and act without a motive, therefore, 
let us proceed to search, 

1. For their design. 

2. For the cause of their design. 

3. Show how far they are likely to succeed. 

1. Their design was evidently to prejudice the 
minds of the people against me, and they could not 
adopt a more subtle or effectual method, because 
many of the people have a sort of sanctified reve- 
rence for the'minutes of their Association. 

They know that newspapers are often stamped 
with falsehood. That magazines are often edited 
by individuals, therefore, more liable to- mistakes. 
But they view the minutes of their associations as 
being the production of an assembly of divines, 
therefore, as being next door to infallibility^ We 
admit that there are many of the people who will 
not allow their minds to be influenced by the trans- 
actions of the Association, (unless those transactions 
are supported by reason and revelation), but they 
are the minority, and the only characters, with 
whom we may expect fair play, our crafty enemies 
knowing the truth of what we advance, they seized 
with a malicious desire the means of which they 
have the entire control, (not merely to guard the 
people against " imposition" as they hypocritically 
pretend. For, were this the ease, they would have 



OF ITS GARB. 127 

given the people the evidence of those impositions, 
and nit merely their bare assertions), but to preju- 
dice the minds of the people against those whom 
they disl ke, not because they are inferior in talent 
or defective in conduct, but because they are their 
rivals in th se things which concern their craft. 
This being the case, we are determined to arise as 
men, to clear the skirts of our garment of the blood 
of the people, by drawing the curtain and present- 
ing to them a clear sight of the working of iniquity 
and stripping it of its garb. 

2. For the cause of their design, one of them had 
the candour to develop the secret who told me, 
" although you call yourself a Baptist, yet you are 
an open communionist, therefore, deserved to be 
published in their minutes as an " impostor," he 
argued at length that as I was an open communion- 
ist I ought to call myself by some other name, I 
observed to him that I was not particularly tena- 
cious about the name by which he might think well 
to designate me, and that if he could find a more 
appropriate one I had no objections to its being ap- 
plied. 

He answered, you may call yourself a Methodist. 

I stated that that term would not be applicable, be- 
cause it signified one who was an Arminian, or one 
who believed the peculiar doctrines of John Wesley, 
but I do not. Well, said he, you may call yourself 
an Episcopalian. I said, that term would not be ap- 
propriate, because it signifies one who believes in 
all the rights and ceremonies of the church of Eng- 
land., Well then, said he, you may call yourself a 



128 POPERY STRIPPED 

Presbyterian, if you ivilL I observed^ that term 
would not be correct, because it implied one who 
believes in infant sprinkling, but I believe in adult 
baptism by immersion. 

By this time the old gentleman appeared to pause 
and be completely fast. Another of them came to 
me with the minutes of the Association in his hand 
to show me that I was advertised as an " impostor," 
then turned and asked me why the Association did 
so. I told him, that I believed that it was because 
I differed from them in sentiment. He then ob- 
served, that it must be very wrong for the Associa- 
tion thus to persecute any one for difference in sen- 
timent. 

He then proceeded to ask me wherein I differed 
from them in sentiment ? I told him that I was an. 
open communionist, or that I believed it to be right 
for all the Lord's people to participate in the em- 
blems of the Lord's broken body and the spilling 
of his blood baptized or unbaptized, and when he 
disputed the soundness of these ideas, they were 
vindicated until the aged gentleman became exceed- 
ingly warm, and then told me without a blush on 
his cheek, that he thought the Association had done 
right to serve me as they had. It is too often the 
case, that when men have no arguments to substan- 
tiate their ideas, they give way to a turbulent pas- 
sion and unchristian conduct, this circumstance will 
serve to corroborate a remark which I have often 
made, (namely) that the rigid Baptists are more em- 
bittered against the doctrine of open communion 
than any other which they consider to be erronious, 



OF ITS GARB. 129 

and why so ? why, because it lays the axe to the 
root of their darling error, (namely, the doctrine of 
baptism being a prerequisite to communion. They 
are as tenacious about this doctrine as the papists 
are about transubstantiation, though they have not 
a single text to support their ideas. 

But it is worthy of remark, that though the old 
gentleman declaimed against the Association, for 
persecuting an individual because of difference in 
sentiment, yet, when he perceived that I threw a 
bit into the mouth of his hobby horse, raised an ar- 
gument against his hackneyed doctrine, and touched 
the tender string on which they have played a thou- 
sand different tunes, but which has made as many 
jars in the Baptist connexion,, he then appeared to 
coincide with the persecuting spirit of the Asso- 
ciation. 

It is sufficient to make one twitter to see how 
willing they are that we should shake to the very 
centre the errors of any other denomination ; but 
how morose, turbulent, and desperate they are when 
confronted with those who are determined on throw- 
ing to the ground every favourite Diana, and strip- 
ping popery of its garb. 

This attempt to lay before the public the design 
of the New-York Baptist Association, in following 
me with a persecuting spirit, may seem a little 
strange to the superficial observer, or one not much 
concerned or acquainted with the matter. But 
when we consider the wickedness of their attempt 
to take my bread from my mouth, the swiftness of 
their steps to trample me under their feet, and their 



130 POPERY STRIPPED 

violent exertions to set my character afloat on the 
raging sea of public prejudice, we are convinced that 
there is sufficient ground of justification, and fancy 
that the following statement will induce every im- 
partial reader to think the same. 

Having arrived at New-York, my friends thought 
proper to open a room for divine worship, and en- 
deavour to form a church on those principles which 
we considered to be in unison with the doctrines of 
the New Testament ; and in order to announce to 
the public our intention, an advertisement was drawn 
up, which advertisement was carried to Mr. Crosby, 
editor of the Baptist Repository, for insertion in his 
paper ; but, when he saw that it was headed Union 
Baptist, he called most earnestly, like some one 
astonished, for a definition of this new and uncom- 
mon term. As soon as he expressed his alarm, his 
mind was enlightened by being informed that it was 
designed to signify that we were open communion- 
ists, or that we admitted all the Lord's people, whe- 
ther Baptists or Pedobaptists, to commemorate with 
us the Lord's broken body and the spilling of his 
blood. He then appeared amazingly astonished 
that such a sentiment should have its advocates. 
He seemed to forget that the immortal John Bun- 
yan, Dr. Ryland, and the great Robert Hall, were 
the ornamental, the philosophical, and scriptural ad- 
vocates of this open, liberal, and evangelical senti- 
ment ; and although he was unable to prove the 
sentiment to be erroneous, yet he would not allow 
the advertisement a place in his paper, O no, such 
unproved errors should never adorn his paper.— 



OF ITS GARB. 131 

Such open, liberal, and Christlike sentiments shall 
never be allowed to unsaint his sectarian sheets. — 
Such a union and oneness of God's dear people shall 
never be recommended by means of his unhallowed 
vehicle of slander. 

When this little favour, this very small request, 
and payment, was denied with an air of contempt, 
it was sent to a Presbyterian paper for insertion, 
where it was received with all the courtesy of a 
Christian, and the pleasure of one who is looking 
forward for the annihilation of sectarianism. 

Well, what was the result ? Why, the very next 
week, the very first opportunity, as early as possi- 
ble, the editor of the Baptist Repository threw into 
his partial paper a number of squinting and one- 
eyed observations on the term " Union Baptist ;" 
neither was his carneous appetite satisfied with this, 
but he threw in, in connexion with them, a number 
of unmanly, unchristian, and scrutinizing observa- 
tions relative to my ministerial and Christian cha- 
racter; though, at the same time, he knew no more 
about me, than he did about open communion. A 
week after that my friend, Mr. Wood, who is bet- 
ter acquainted with me than any other man in the 
world, who has for years been engaged in the mi- 
nistry, and for whose character I have a high esteem, 
addressed a letter to the editor of the Baptist Repo- 
sitory, in which he not only confronted all the scur- 
rilous observations of that libellous editor, but gave 
him selections from various periodicals published in 
England, in which he had found my name connected 
with such statements as abundantly evinced my 



132 POPERY STRIPPED 

respectable standing among the English churches. 
But did thai editor possess such a regard for his 
duty, such impartiality, such an unbiassed mind as to 
insert that letter? O no; schoolboy like, he struck 
the first blow, and then ran away. He mounted 
on hi» editorial pinnacle, where he possessed a pe- 
culiar advantage over the innocent, and then hid 
himself behind his power to control his paper. 

His unmanly attack, his boyish assault, his cow- 
ardly retreat, by no means recommend his editorial 
qualities. 

Therefore, we thank God that he has seen good 
to sanctify that libellous editor (we have no doubt) to 
eternal silence, because he must have been destitute 
of mens libi conscia recti. There are a few other 
editorial, sectarian, libellous enemies, who (as sure 
as God is just,) will suffer the same fate. We also 
take this opportunity to tender our thanks to the 
public for such a kind interference on our behalf, 
and seeking to bury such " monstrum nulla virtute 
redemption a vitiis." 

Now, by this statement of facts, we clearly per- 
ceive that the editor might have taken those creden- 
tials (which were unquestionable recommendations 
of my name and character) to the Association 
with him. But did he do so ? O no ; he wished 
the Associatiation to view me as an "impostor," and 
therefore it would never do for me to be recom- 
mended to them. Besides, there were many of the 
people in the Association ; consequently, nothing 
whatever — no, not a jot nor a tittle — must be done 
or said that would in the least measure induce the 



OF ITS GARB. 133 

people lo form a favourable opinion of me. Nothing 
must be done to counteract his former doings, for 
that would denote his fallibility. He wished the 
people's minds to be soured against me, therefore 
not a syllable must be dropped that would contri- 
bute to my good. This would not have been in con- 
sonance with their Satanical design. 

This would not enable them to saddle and ride 
the prejudices of the people, on which they aim to 
hunt my character into scorn and disgrace. 

Such carnal minds and selfish souls, 
We feign would leave them to themselves, 
But justice calls us to declare 
Against their sinful conduct here. 
Therefore arise, my soul, arise, 
Let not thy carnal enemies, 
Who seek thy character to crush, 
Sink thy fair name beneath the dust. 
Assert thy rights, maintain thy claims, 
And show that thou art no remains 
Of that disgrace and obloquy, 
Which they would make thee out to be. 
There is another striking circumstance, which, if 
stated, will tend to assist us in the investigation of 
their wicked designs, and stripping their popish 
principles of its garb. An Elder, Coles, who is a 
member of, and who was at the said Association, 
informed them that he had seen a public Magazine, 
which was published in England, in which he had 
found my name enrolled with that of Mr. Hall, 
A. M., D. D., late of Bristol. The connexion, 
12 



134 POPERY STRIPPED 

said he, went on to show that Mr. Hall had not 
only recommended Mr. H. to the public in general, 
but that he (Mr. Horner,) had travelled with, and 
addressed several public missionary meetings in 
connexion with the said Mr. Hall. 

Now let it be observed, that the Association re- 
ceived an account (from one among themselves, 
whose veracity they never attempted to question,) 
that the great, learned, and much esteemed Hall, 
admitted me not merely to be favoured with the 
volubility of his speakers, the teeming eloquence 
which always flowed from his philosophical mind 
on such occasions, but to stand on the same plat- 
form, to address the same audience, and that on the 
most public occasions. 

Before we notice their stupid conduct in rejecting 
the influence which such a statement would have 
made on impartial minds, we deem it necessary to 
observe, that it is well known by all who had any 
acquaintance with Mr. Hall, that he was not 
only a man of strict moral character himself, 
but that he was one who paid a peculiar re- 
gard to the characters of those whom he admitted 
as his associates. Nevertheless, the New York 
Baptist Association summoned up a sufficient reso- 
lution to blunt their feelings, and reject the mighty 
influence which such a statement must have had 
upon every enlightened and liberal assembly. 

It is well known that the Baptists in this country, 
publish a Magazine, and that the editors of it are 
not only called upon, but feel it their bounden duty, 
to pay a peculiar regard to the demeanor of those 
whose names they admit, and whose characters 



OF ITS GARB. 135 

they recommend in their pages. This being gene- 
rally understood and admitted, what would they 
think of that man or set of men, who would have the 
audacity to set aside such recommendations, espe- 
cially if they had not the slightest evidence against 
the truth of those recommendations. Now this was 
literally the case with the New York Baptist Asso- 
ciation. 

Their conduct in this particular is not only a 
strange slur on the elder who made the above state- 
ment, but on the Magazine which contains it, as 
well as a scurrilous reflection on that dear man of 
God, (Mr. Hall,); for it surely cannot be pos- 
sible that out enemies can be so far struck 
with blindness, as not to perceive that they, by 
representing me as an "impostor," have attempt- 
ed to sully the purity, tarnish the character, and 
throw darkness around the name of that venerable 
divine, who has gilded the pages of my history with 
his name, cast it into the heart of my character as a 
diamond, and set his sign and seal to the uprightness 
of my demeanour. What if that intellectual giant, 
that venerated author, that champion in the field of 
literature, has recommended a rogue, a vagrant, and 
an " impostor," for a Christian minister ? Will it 
not reflect on his character, and bury him in derision? 
But O thou venerated Hall, thou man of God, thou 
friend in need, burst, oh burst the barriers of thy tomb; 
rise in the dignity of thy character, and clear thyself 
of these false, foul, and unchristian charges, and let 
thy enemies be scattered by the breath of thy elo- 
quence. 



136 POPERY STRIPPED 

What miserable work they make, when, for the 
sake of destroying me, they are determined to sac- 
rifice the name of the venerable Hall, with all his 
merited rank — his superior qualities — his splendid 
eloquence — his eminent services — his displayed 
talents — his arrayed powers — the vast space he 
has filled in the eyes of mankind — the exhibition 
of his capacity, which is unparalleled in the annals 
of oratory, and which reflects the highest honour on 
himself, lustre on literature, and renown on his 
country — the dignity of the senate — the acuteness 
of the bar — the morality of the sacred desk, has 
never furnished his superior — the verity of his 
knowledge — the force of his imagination — the pro- 
priety of his allusions — the copiousness of his style 
— the sublimity of his conceptions, which have 
raised him to an eminence without a rival — where 
the nations of the earth behold him with admiration 
— the consistency of his character — the integrity of 
his motives — his submission to duty in recom- 
mending my character to the public — and more 
than all, his great character, which is canonized and 
sanctified by death ; — I ask when my enemies are 
determined to sacrifice all these on the altar of their 
infatuated bigotry, do not they evince a state of mind 
which is too horrid for description. 

It is fair and rational to conclude, that if they had 
not been guided by the influence of besotted bigotry, 
and a persecuting spirit, that the slightest intimations 
given of my character being recommended by means 
of the public press, to the world at large, by 



OF ITS GARB. 137 

Mr. Hall, would have been sufficient to stop 
the wickedness of their barbarous hands. 

If they had been as mild, as humane and as heaven- 
ly as they would have us suppose them to be, would 
not they have been more deliberate in this matter? 
would they not have made a few inquiries ? would 
they not have searched for the testimony of that 
great and good man ? 

O no, this would not do, because they were so 
bent on wickedness that they could not exercise 
patience. 

They were so determined on my destruction, that 
they could not allow themselves time to eat at the 
source of information, nor drink at the fountain of 
forbearance, till they had carried into execution their 
desperate plots for my destruction. 

They looked at my arguments in favour of open 
communion, as a deluge likely to envelope their 
own interests in ruin, and, therefore, they must with 
all possible speed, lift up a standard against it. 

Poor dear souls, how pitious their condition — 
how forlorn their minds, and how wretched their 
conduct ; for it tends to a disruption of all the kin- 
dred and social ties which we have been accus- 
tomed to nurture in our breast towards the Baptist 
denomination. And yet we have been told that they 
are good men, and that we must be very mild with 
them. Yes, and so we will, and leave them for a 
time to their turmoil, their sweat, and their Babel 
building, till their designs are frustrated, their doings 
confounded, and their sandy and sectarian fabrics 
are fallen about their ears. 

12* 



138 POPERY STRIPPED 

3. Let us inquire how far they are likely to suc- 
ceed. 

However unfair their conduct may appear to the 
man of sense, however base their designs, and how- 
ever unlikely it may be for the great Head of the 
church to bless them in their wickedness, it must be 
acknowledged that they possess a peculiar advan- 
tage over me, not because they have got the liberty 
of the press, but because they have got the contri- 
butions of the people to support that press. It may 
also be observed that the office of the priests is of 
such a peculiar nature as to be highly calculated to 
gain a powerful ascendency over the minds of the 
people ; so much so, that there are but few minds 
sufficiently noble to act independent of their influ- 
ence. We are fully convinced of the truth of this 
idea, because it is evident that if the ministers of 
the close Baptists should tell their people that I am 
a rogue, a vagrant, &c, &c, they would readily be- 
lieve them ;, but if we and a thousand other persons 
were to declare my innocence it would be all in vain; 
I should still have to lie under the weight of their 
scorn and derision. Nay, we have already experi- 
enced the truth of what we are stating ; for they 
have no more evidence that I am guilty of the crime 
with which I am charged, than we have of the truth 
of Mahometanism ; yet, behold, they can with calm- 
ness and deliberation, talk of me as an " impostor," 
represent me as a rogue, and treat me as a vagrant ; 
so that we have no chance with any but those who 
are able to throw aside the trammels of priestcraft, 



OF ITS GARB. 139 

and those who dare venture to think and act for 
themselves in these matters. 

These are the men, and only they, 

With whom we have the slightest chance, 

Who act without a priesily sway, 

As though they had some common sense. 

Well, let us have these by my side, 
Then I'll not care for men who are 

But cyphers in this world of pride,. 
Who are but tools for others care. 

But since we have truth on our side, we fear not 
their intrigues, for we have not the slightest doubt 
of victory over them ; nay, we already possess the 
field, and are placed on an eminence which defies 
their hottest rage. 

Hitherto we have been enabled to soar as far 
above them as liberty is above despotism. They 
have again and again snatched at the garment with 
which my name is clothed ; but it being woven by a 
stronger hand than that of their own, it has defied 
all their infernal attempts. A more heavenly power 
than theirs has thrown a bit in their mouth, and a 
bridle in their teeth, which will so guide them as 
to cause all their attempts to- redound to our good. 
Their protuberance or itching desire to find a stain 
in my character is beyond description. 

Their assiduity to blacken my name and bury it 
in scorn and obloquy, is not to be portrayed by the 
ingenuity of the artist, nor the power of the eloquent. 
Their conduct appears homogeneal with the deport- 
ment of his holiness, or as though his mightiness 



140 POPERY STRIPPED 

had marched through their Association with his state- 
ly importance, and condescended to leave them 
his garb and a leaf out of his book. At any 
rate, it is most evident that either him or his prin- 
cipal was chairman for them. 

If so, we need not wonder now, 

The subject opens to our view. 

They show themselves the "man of sin," 4 

And persecute the saints again. 

But God who loves the humble saints, 
Will lend his ear to their complaints, 
And save his people by his power, 
In every persecuting hour. 

Arm of the Lord, be thou reveal'd, 
Unsheath thy sword my soul to shield, 
Confound these enemies, and then 
Give them repentance for their sin. 

May they behold their Popish deed 
In all its black and desperate shade, 
Be faithful to themselves, and then 
Condemn themselves like honest men. 

And give them absolution of 
All their sins, and make them safe 
From all the consequence of crime, 
That they may at a future time 

Take caution, and ne*er persecute 
Those who may form a different thought, 
Nor seek to take away the name 
Of virtuous and honest men. 



OF ITS GARB. 141 



CHAPTER IV. 

The persecuting conduct of the Warwick Papistical As- 
sociation EXPOSED, AND ANIMADVERSIONS ON THE HETERODOX- 
ICAL NOTIONS 0? ONE OF THE HERESIARCHS OF THAT PERSECU- 
TING COUNCIL. 

The New York Association having given a 
precedent, and deputed (not the gigantic Saul of 
Tarsus, but) the impotent Elder Lathrop, of Samp- 
town, "with letters" (not to Damascus, but) to the 
Warwick Assembly of persecuting ecclesiastics, 
who (having been informed by Mr. Lathrop, that a 
certain individual calling himself an open communi- 
onist, was now within their diocess,) were readily 
prevailed upon to lift up the rod of persecution 
against him ; and in order to show how much they 
were at a loss to prove any sin against his character, 
we will here copy the following lying slander from 
a sectarian pamphlet published by them'* 

" The Association having learned that a person 
of suspicions character, calling himself J. Horner, 
and stating that he recently arrived in this country 
from England, is travelling among the churches 
composing this body, resolve to amend the above 
report, by the addition of this information, and cau- 
tioning the churches not to receive him, the report 
was adopted." 

* Min. Bapt. Assoc. 



142 POPERY STRIPPED 

We have here a gross insinuation, a wicked at- 
tempt to injure my character, and one of the black- 
est lying slanders that was ever placed on the back 
of any poor persecuted soul, or that was ever circu- 
lated by any wicked council, either of Trent or of 
Warwick : which shows not only their willingness 
to do me all the injury in their power, but the im- 
possibility of their proving any charge against him, 
whom they so indescribably abominate. 

They tell us that they have " learned," or been 
informed ; but they have not told us how they got 
that learning, nor who gave them the information. 
All that is so essential to our being "learned" in this 
profound secret, and working of iniquity, is kept 
entirely, yes, entirely on the back ground ; being 
very " learned" themselves, they wish to keep us in 
the dark, because we, being unlearned, and they 
very " learned," they can the better saddle and ride 
us, poor ignoramuses, for their own purposes. For 
aught we, poor ignorant folks, know, they may have 
received this unimportant information from persons 
who wear black coats, and who told such fibs to 
promote their own interests ; or they might be the 
very worst of mendicants and untruth tellers that 
ever walked the streets. Indeed we may readily 
cenclude that their characters were notoriously bad, 
since they will not allow us to investigate them. At 
any rate, since they have made very false state- 
ments, as we shall hereafter prove, we cannot sup- 
pose them to be very respectable slanderers. 

They have stated that a person of suspicious cha- 
racter, but, like dishonest men, they have not given 



OF ITS GARB. 143 

us an evidence of the truth of what they say, neither 
have they informed us from what quarter that "sus- 
picion" first arose; and thus, like the Romish priests, 
they keep their doings in secrecy ; wherefore we 
cannot err by identifying them with that body of 
popish and persecuting hierophants. 

We have for some time past been troubling our 
heads, and inquiring what there was about Mr. EL's 
appearance that makes him "a suspicious character." 
In order to find out this deep mystery and undefined 
chaos of wonders, we have engaged the polished 
taste, the keen penetration and phrenological wisdom 
of our scientific friends, who, in answer to our 
request, have observed, 

1. That there is nothing of a suspicious nature 
about his apparel, and that although he does not 
wear a radical hat, a coat with a dandy cut and 
theatrical fashion, as too many parsonical gentlemen 
do, yet they say that he wears as good a coat as any 
man in the country, made of the best British Sax- 
ony broadcloth as ever was produced by European 
ingenuity ; and therefore nothing of a suspicious 
nature, indicating any trick or roguery, can be de- 
tected in his dress. 

2. They also observe, that nature has given him 
a broad set frame, with a wide projecting forehead, 
which is borne along by a pair of mill-post legs, 
indicating all that independency of demeanour, 
straight-forward and above-board sort of beinor which 
is characteristic of a heroic John Bull; and conse- 
quently nothing of a suspicious character can arise 
from a deficiency of nature's production. And with 



144 POPERY STRIPPED 

regard to any doctrines preached or statements made 
by him, we confidently state, that there is no- 
thing of a hypocritical nature in them, for he has 
preached no doctrines but what he is able to prove 
by his New Testament, and that he has made no 
statements but what may be substantiated. 

It is true, they appear inclined, and in fact they 
are, sufficiently preposterous to insinuate, that there 
is something of a "suspicious" nature about his 
character ; for, say they, he is " travelling among 
the churches composing this body? But this is a 
downright falsehood. Now, how men can associate 
and assemble in what they call a religious body, 
pretend to offer up prayers to Almighty God, and 
call themselves by the name of Christians, and yet 
prove themselves such palpable hypocrites, such 
rancorous slanderers, and such base inventors of one 
of the grossest falsehoods that was ever invented 
by any arch fiend, is astonishing, and makes them 
dangerous in proportion to the credit they gain. 

About five or six days before the Warwick Asso- 
ciation, I was on my way to preach at a place called 
Deckertown, N. J., not in the Baptist, but in the 
Presbyterian meeting-house, when, having arrived 
within two or three miles of the said place, I met 
with a farmer, whose name has escaped my lecol- 
lection, and who was leaning over the fence of his 
field near the way side, of whom I made some in- 
quiries concerning the way to Deckertown ; he then 
began, in what we have heard called a yankee man- 
ner, to ask a number of questions relative to my in- 
tended visit to the said town, and of course I found 



OP ITS GARB. 145 

myself under the necessity of giving him some de- 
finite or indefinite answers. After he had interro- 
gated me as much as he thought proper, he in a 
fatherly manner gave me an invitation to stay with 
him for the night. To pacify the farmer I went 
into his house for a short time only, it being impos- 
sible for me stay with him all night. I afterward 
was informed that he was a member of the first 
Baptist church in Wantage. But can it be fair to 
say, that because I called on this individual Baptist, 
that I " travelled among their churches ?" 

It may also be admitted, that after I had done 
preaching at Deckertown, a Dr. Allen, who, I un- 
derstand, is a member of the said Baptist church, 
invited me to his house. But although I complied 
with this rightful, this Christian, and this legal in- 
vitation, is it equitable, manly, or legal that I should 
be represented all over the United States as an im- 
posing villain, merely because I received this invi- 
tation, not from the Baptist churches, but from an 
individual ? O the barbarity, the wretchedness, the 
wickedness of these implacable enemies, to repre- 
sent me thus, without any just or reasonable cause. 
We challenge the world to prove, that the wicked 
priests of the Church of Rome ever perpetrated a 
grosser crime. 

And we may also challenge our bitterest enemies 
with all their concentrated malice and hatred against 
me to bring any proof against the truth of what is 
here stated, from whence then does this suspicion 
rise, had they been straight forward men, without 
any design to deceive or impose on the senses of the 
13 



146 



POPERY STRIPPED 



ignorant, they would have told us, therefore, every 
man of principle is called upon to pity their misera- 
ble attempts to set the prejudices of the people upon 
an individual against whom they cannot prove a 
single charge. 

There is another circumstance to which we must 
advert. 

Being on a journey, my way led through a place 
called Newfoundland, where I called at the tavern 
to take up my abode for the night, and found a bro- 
ther Englishman with a fine fat broad face, indicat- 
ing an intelligent mind and a friendly disposition, 
and with whom I fell into conversation. I soon per- 
ceived his trade, because he sat on the taylor's 
board, with his little fat legs turned under him with 
all the ease and composure of one brought up to 
that trade. And he appeared as easy to perceive 
that I was engaged in the ministry ; that being the 
case, he went on to state that they had a small 
Baptist meeting-house in that village, and that if 
you, said he, would be kind enough to stay and 
preach for us I have no doubt but that I could get 
the use of that place of worship. Well, I stayed 
and preached for them. But is this "travelling 
among" or " imposing on their churches." Can 
this church be named in the plural. What, must a 
man be represented as an " imposing mendicant," 
merely because he complys with such a friendly 
invitation ? It is also worthy of remark that for my 
services on that occasion, I did not receive a single 
cent. It is true, the deacon of that church promised 
to remunerate me for my services on condition 



OF ITS GARB. 147 

that I would visit them again, but no engagement 
was made to do so. Now we positively declare 
that I never, no, never preached for any other church 
or churches composing that body, and we challenge 
them to disprove the truth of this assertion ; yes, 
with all their Satanical inclinations to persecute us, 
with all their enraged malice and infatuated hatred 
towards us, with all their infernal desires to do us 
an injury, we challenge them to the test of this as- 
sertion. Had we the voice of a trumpet, and could 
we extend that voice to the uttermost boundaries of 
the earth, we then would call aloud in their ears to 
disprove this assertion, we have again and again 
required them to do so, both in an oral and writ- 
ten manner, but they have never done so, no, and 
as a proof that they cannot do so, they never at- 
tempted it. 

There are three circumstances connected with 
my preaching for the Newfoundland congregation 
which deserves to be collected in a body, and which 
incontestably prove the guilt of my priestly enemies 
in this case, and those are, 

1. That I did not preach for the people without 
being strongly invited, and the unanimous consent 
of the people obtained. 

2. That no people could appear more thankful 
for my services than they did, nor express them- 
selves in stronger terms of approbation of the senti- 
ments inculcated. 

3. That I received no remuneration for my ser- 
vices. Then why do they say that Mr. H. has im- 
posed upon their churches ? Why do they repre- 



148 POPERY STRIPPED 

sent him all over the world as an " imposterous** 
swindler ? Why do they constitute themselves into 
a body of lying slanderers and persecuting eccle- 
siastics ? O why, poor dear souls, because they 
are not sufficiently magnanimous to confront our 
arguments in favour of open communion, therefore, 
they, like the wicked priests of the church of Rome, 
must make use of persecution and carnal weapons 
to put down liberal sentiments, and promote their 
dogma, because they wish to extinguish all my fu- 
ture prospects by throwing darkness and clouds 
round the apprehensions of the people. 

Thus they have used the utmost of their endea- 
vours to cut asunder the zone which bound my 
heart to the Baptist denomination, for which I have 
laboured with assiduity for more than twelve years* 
But being conscious of the soundness of my doc- 
trine, and satisfied that my principles will bear the 
test of the strictest scrutiny, I am firm to my pur- 
pose, and unshaken by the threats of these despe- 
rate tyrants. The clamours of their raging thirst 
for my destruction, and the poisonous arrows of 
which they avail themselves to load my character 
with scorn and obloquy. 

For the miserable, malicious, and wicked pur- 
pose of alarming and terrifying the apprehensions 
of the people, my bitter and priestly enemies have 
stated that Mr. H. has no recommendatory articles 
from England. But this is a palpable falsehood, 
and when my friend, Mr. Wood, in his letter to the 
editor of the Baptist Repository, has given them 
volume, chapter, and page, where they might have 



OF ITS GARB. 149 

found recommendatory documents of my name and 
character, to which they might have found a signa- 
ture which must be dear and satisfactory to every 
enlightened and liberal man, namely, that of the 
Rev. Robt. Hall, late of Leicester,* whose respec- 
tability is established all over Christendom, who was 
a metaphysician, a philanthropist, a Christian, phi- 
losopher, and scanned the heavens, described the 
rules by which the earth is preserved in its orbit, 
and how the planets of our solar system are whirled 
with their attendant satellites around their dazzling 
centre — who measured the distance and discovered 
the laws by which the comets were guided in their 
courses, yea, he applied all that was grand in na- 
ture, and magnificent in creation to elucidate the 
truth, and prove the soundness of the doctrines he 
preached — among our enemies there are none, in 
philosophy so profound, in morality so pure, in 
theology so perfect, and in fact, none of them are 
worthy to kiss the pedestal on which his fame is 
elevated. 

They might have found my name enrolled in the 
gilded archives, among philosophers, philanthropists, 
and divines of the noblest classf which might have 
been a sure pledge to them of the soundness of my 
principles, and the uprightness of my character. 
But alas ! the representation of my namej is denied 
the glory of the most distinguished sons of the earth, 
is obscured by the enrolment of their names with 

* Mr. Wood's letter, page 46. 
t Congregational Magazine, Vol 8. page 332, 
t Baptist Repository, 1828. page 72. 

13* 



150 POPERY STRIPPED 

mine, the most awful and flagitious crimes are 
charged upon me. From whence does all this de- 
nunciation of my character and the defamation of 
my name proceed? and what is the purpose to which 
it all tends ? Does it not proceed from those who are 
seeking to secure their own craft by throwing me 
into destruction ? do not they by the ungodly means 
which they have adopted, arm the oppressor and 
the ill-disposed against me, they attempt to consign 
my name for the present generation to unmerited 
obloquy, and raise a sombre monument of infamy 
over the ashes of my bones. This horrid attempt 
against my name and character is either an exotic 
transplanted from the garden of despotism, or the 
savage wilderness of their own minds, therefore not 
very congenial to the country which invites the per- 
secuted and afflicted of other nations to take refuge 
under the protecting wing of her eagle. They 
hereby prove that they are stimulated by the fierce- 
ness of bigotry, and that they would be terrific and 
relentless persecutors, provided they were sustained 
by all the dreadful powers of the Spanish inquisi- 
tion. 

Consequently, every man of liberal principles and 
virtuous ideas, is loudly called upon to assist while 
we combat the desperate persecuting spirit of these 
ecclesiastical tyrants, 

Ye sons of fame, and heroes of the world, 
Come listen while we do our case unfurl ; 
Stretch forth your mighty arm, let wisdom guide 
Your courage while you do these tyrants chide. 



OF ITS GARB. 151 

Then shall angelic bands your steps conduct, 
Smile on your march, and all your ways direct ; 
So shall the Great Spirit your strength precede, 
Then from these cruel foes we shall be free'd. 

Then we shall sing the song of liberty, 
We'll tune our harps, and glory to be free, 
Mountains and valleys, and the midnight ear 
Shall witness to our song while we declare 

Your patriotic courage, and your zeal, 
Your love of stately fame, and skill to wield 
The sword of state, and by it to defend 
Our liberties, and make these tyrants bend. 

And while we tune our harps and sing your fame, 
Nations will listen, kingdoms say amen. 
The distant Islands of the earth shall joy, 
Their songs of praise shall reach beyond the sky. 

Nations unborn, again shall crown your heads 
With unfading laurels, and hand your deeds 
Through the most distant time, they'll sound the 

praise 
Of him who has directed all your ways. 

They further state, that " a person, calling him- 
self J. Horner." N. B. Calling himself, &c. as 
though they w^ere determined to insinuate, or, as 
though they had strong and itching desires to in- 
duce the people to believe that this is a fictitious 
name, but why draw this corrupted water out of an 
imaginary well \ Why drink so deep into wicked- 



152 POPERY STRIPPED 

ness to drown a man who is above board ? Why- 
give such wicked, base, and groveling insinuations 
of the probability of an impossibility ? for my ene- 
mies knew r , or they ought to have known, that there 
are scores of people in this country who for years 
have been intimately acquainted with me in Eng- 
land, a number of whom live in New York, and 
among whom I have taken up my abode ever since 
I have been in this country. Is this any proof that 
I am that vile, wretched, roguish " impostor," who 
has committed such black and felonious deprada- 
tions, as to be under the miserable necessity of 
changing my name ? Since they have given no 
evidences of the veracity of this intimation, it is fair 
to conclude that they have none. Then we ask 
again with astonishment, why give this glaring and 
wicked intimation of the probability of an impossi- 
bility ? Change my name ! No, far be that from 
me. My name is too much endeared to me by the 
remembrance of many important transactions, and 
impressed on too many honorable pages for me to 
give it up, and call myself by some other name. 

If they had not intended to have thrown dust in 
the eyes of the people ; if they had been Christians, 
manly, or fair ; if they had not designed evil against 
me, they would have gone to some of my English 
friends of New York, who are members of the Bap- 
tist denomination, and asked them whether J. H. 
had or had not changed his name. But behold, such 
steps to light and knowledge would not do, for they 
loved darkness rather than light, because their 
deeds were evil. 



OP ITS GARB. 153 

See how these desperate tyrants feign would blast 
the hope, and take away from innocence its de- 
pendant prop. They grasp with their iron fists, 
and strive with all their force, to take away our 
bread, which is now the staff of life. 

But there is another part of this wicked contri- 
vance to which we are loudly called to pay a pecu- 
liar attention, in which we shall detect as much of 
that mysterious working of iniquity, commonly 
called priestcraft, as in any other part of their slan- 
derous production, and that reads as follows : — 
" Resolved, to amend the above report by cautioning 
the churches not to receive him." [" The report 
was adopted,"] and who can wonder at that ; for 
if a lock and key were manufactured by a com- 
mittee, which were calculated to secure the 
craft of the priests, they were sure to receive a 
sanction, and made the patentees of such desirable 
machinery by a band of that order. It seems per- 
fectly useless and nonsensical to tell us that the 
report was adopted, as much so, as for any one to 
tell us that the pope likes priestcraft. Now the 
curtain is drawn aside ; for what they dread above 
all things, is, that J. H. should get among the peo- 
ple, and converse with them on a topic, on which, 
if the minds of the people were sufficiently enlight- 
ened, the craft of the poor defenceless priests would 
be in danger directly, and they would fear nothing 
so much as J. H. getting among the people. Well, 
there is no doubt but that this popish puff will have 
its share of influence with many, especially those 
who are already saddled with priestly influence, and 



154 POPERY STRIPPED 

who are satisfied with insinuations without proof, 
of statements without facts, and charges without 
evidences. For such are the fascinating charms of 
priestly influence, that it imperceptibly gains a most 
wonderful ascendency over the minds of even the 
democratical Baptists ; yea, such are its fascinating 
charms, that although these wicked hierarchs have 
given their opinions without discussion ; inflicted a 
punishment without examination, and formed a po- 
pish inquisito without a judico ; yet many of the 
Baptists, whose minds are not sufficiently magnani- 
mous to enable them to act for themselves, will be 
influenced by the doings of our priestly enemies, 
notwithstanding the despotism of their doings. — 
Therefore I may adopt the prayer and complaint of 
the spirit inspired psalmist, when he said 

" Hear my voice, God, in my prayer : preserve 
my life from fear of the enemy. 

2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked ; 
from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity : 

3. Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend 
their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words r 

4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect : 
suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. 

5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter : 
they commune of laying snares privily ; they say, 
Who shall see them ? 

6. They search out iniquities ; they accomplish a 
diligent search : both the inward thought of every 
one of them, and the mind, is deep. 

7. But God shall shoot at them ivith an arrow ^ 
suddenly shall they be wounded,, 



OF ITS GARB. 155 

8. So they shall make their own tongue to fall 
upon themselves : all that see them shall flee 
away. 

9. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the 
work of God ; for they shall wisely consider of his 
doing. 

10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and 
shall trust in him ; and all the upright in heart shall 
glory." 

If those churches are composed of such men, who 
are disposed to reject me merely because their 
priests wish them to do so, then I am happily re- 
lieved from them ; especially so, if they imbibe, and 
are determined on the inculcation of the same sen- 
timents from their pulpits, as I am informed a num- 
ber of their ministers disseminate. But let us not 
do in this case, as the above Association has done 
with me, namely : depend on mere statements, with- 
out any evidence of facts ; for there is lying before 
me a statement of doctrines and ideas which are to 
characterize a weekly newspaper, denominated 
" The Signs of the Times," and which is to be 
edited, published, and sanctioned by the Rev. Mr. 
Bebee, and others, composing the above persecuting 
council of hierarchs, and slandering ecclesiastics ; 
and for the exclusive purpose of showing how highly 
we are honoured by being hated and despised by 
such hierarchs, let us now give a faithful copy of 
the prospectus of that ineloquent publication, which 
is highly calculated to bring a stigma on Christianity 
in proportion to the credit it gains. 



156 POPERY STRIPPED 

Proposals for publishing a new vjeekly paper de- 
nominated the Signs of the Times, by an asso- 
ciation of brethren. Devoted, exclusively to the 
Baptist cause — maintaining inviolably, the fol- 
loioing Scriptural sentiments : 

1st. The extensive sovereignty, immutability, 
omnipotence, and eternal perfection of the Great 
Jehovah — the revelation which God has given of 
himself as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. " These 
three are one." 1st. John, vth 8. 

2d. The absolute predestination of all things. 

3d. Eternal, and unconditional election. 

4th. The total depravity, and just condemnation 
of fallen man. 

5th. That the atonement, and redemption of Jesus 
Christ, are for the elect only. 

6th. The sovereign, irresistible, and (in all cases) 
effectual work of the Holy Ghost in quickening, 
and regenerating the elect of God. 

7th. The final perseverance, and eternal happi- 
ness of all the sons of God, by grace. 

8th. The resurrection of the dead and eternal 
judgment. 

9th. That the Church of Christ is composed ex- 
clusively of baptized believers ; that to her are given 
able ministers of the New Testament — that the 
Scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice to 
the saints of God. 

10th. That there is no connexion between Church 
and State, and as touching the proposition of a mar- 



OF ITS GARB. 157 

riage between them, the Hon. R. M. Johnson, in 
his report on the Sabbath Mail question, has amply- 
revealed our faith. 

"The Signs of the Times" will be decidedly 
opposed to Bible, Tract, and Missionary Societies, 
Theological Seminaries, Sabbath School Unions, 
&c. &c, waging war with the mother Arminianism, 
and her entire brood of institutions. 

Plan. — The paper will be divided in two parts, 
viz: 

1st. Jesus Christ set forth, 

2d. Anti- Christ exposed. 

We have no desire to take very special notice of 
the tautology with which our extraordinary editor 
annoys our judgment, nor the repetition of his terms 
and divisions ; but surely, we may be allowed to 
take a glance at the poking and mischievous horns 
which evidently grow out of this ten headed mon- 
ster ; and since we are more especially sruck with 
the phenomenon of the second head, than we are 
with the antiquity of the first, we shall undoubtedly 
be allowed to amuse ourselves while we analyze its 
fatality, and describe its tendency. 

" 2. The absolute predestination of all things?' 
That is, Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and a judg- 
ment to condemn her for doing so. The Israelites 
to worship the golden calf; Cain to assassinate 
Abel; Noah to get intoxicated ; the erection of the 
tower of Babel ; the horrid sins of Sodom ; Nadab 
and Abihu to offer strange fire before the Lord, for 
which cause he destroyed them ; the Philistines 
14 



158 POPERY STRIPPED 

to worship Dayan ; David to commit adultery with 
Uriah's wife ; to number the people, and send pes- 
tilence among them because he did so ; Solomon 
to make shipwreck of the wisdom, temperance, and 
piety that distinguished his youthful days; Absa- 
lom to turn out wicked, notwithstanding his reli- 
gious education ; the treasures of an Ethiopian, and 
affluent Queen to be squandered in the vanity of a 
heathen cart ; Manassah to set up images, promote 
idolatry, make the streets of Jerusalem run down 
with blood, and perpetrate the crimes which consti- 
tuted him a monster of iniquity ; Eli to go after Sa- 
tan in the temple ; Nebuchadnezzer to rob the house 
of God to ornament his idolatrous temple ; King Da- 
rius to make a decree that the pious Daniel should not 
pray within thirty days ; Judas to be perverted in the 
company of Christ and his fellow disciples ; the elo- 
quent Paul to be stoned for preaching the Gospel of 
Christ ; the infelicity of Socrates' constitution which 
carried him into violent anger in his youthful days ; 
Nero to become a tyrant ; kings to murder in their 
splendid palaces ; the church of Rome to go into cor- 
ruption, and her besotted rage to burn the bones of 
WicklifTe, and cast the dust thereof in the air ; the 
most eminent saints of all the earth lo be consumed 
on the piles of Smithfield ; and Mr. H. to be an open 
communionist, and the rigid Baptists to persecute 
him for his sentiments. ' ; The absolute predestina- 
tion of all things" that are in heaven and in earth, 
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or 
dominions, or principalities or powers ; Bible, 
Tract, and Missionary Societies ; Theological Semi- 



OF ITS GARB. 159 

naries, Sabbath School Unions, &c. &c. ; the mother 
of Arminianism, and her entire brood of institutions." 

Having viewed the constituent parts of one of the 
heads belonging to this extraordinary monster, ana- 
lytically, we have found out seven things connected 
with it, and these are — 1st. God — 2d. his will — 
3. his decrees — 4th. creation — 5th. necessity — 6th. 
providence — 7th. sin. Since we have made these 
discoveries, we think ourselves amply recompensed 
for the labour and cost incurred, by a sight of this 
amazing phenomenon, this hermaphroditeieal, and 
ten-headed monster, lint let the reader dismiss his 
consternation, while we diaw aside the curtain and 
present to his view another wonder, which has lately 
rose up out of the sea of time — namely, the amal- 
gamation of qualities, which, to prophets, patriarchs, 
and evangelists ; philosophers, sages, and divines, 
have till the present period, been considered contra- 
dictory ; for we have here the doctrines of necessi- 
tarianism or fatalism, and therefore we have pre- 
sented to our view the frightful figure of a man in 
the garb of a Christian minister, inculcating the 
same doctrines as Hobbes, Kpicurus, Spinora, Vol- 
taire, and Hume, and associating with them, to 
hammer the clay chain, by which they hang sin with 
all its baneful consequences on God. Yea, we have 
here, Omnipotence impelling all the transactions of 
men, whether righteous or wicked, as irresistibly as 
a floating cork is carried towards the shore, by roll- 
ing waves which necessarily impel one anolher. 

We here discover the inexorable fate of the stoics 
excluding all contingency from nature ; all liberality 



160 POPERY STRIPPED^ 

from the souls of men ; rendering all their endeav- 
ours useless, and frustrating all the exertions and 
reproofs of the Gospel. Our editor appears bewil- 
dered in his destructive error; confounding the order 
of nature; subverting the providence of God, and 
cutting off every notion of good and evil ; while he 
imbibes and promulgates a tenet so replete with 
mischief; so injurious to the character of God,, and 
so repugnant to all the moral attributes of a benefi- 
cent Being, it should create in- our hearts a detesta- 
tion to his doctrine and compassion for his wicked- 
ness. 

If man is absolutely predestinated to all he does-, 
he is necessarily divested of the liberty of acting ; 
consequently, virtue and religion vanish at once ; 
because if we are bound by invincible chains-, all our 
human endeavours are vain and superfluous, for to 
what end can any one wish to secure the blessed- 
ness of heaven, or escape the damnation of hell, if 
he was " absolutely predestinated" to all his particu- 
lar acts, and to heaven or to hell, before he was born ?: 

This doctrine is big with absurdity, and danger- 
ous in its consequences. It, like a Turkish predes- 
tination, is calculated to place all the institutions in 
the world on a level with the reveries of Mahomet ; 
make void the warnings and promises of the Gos- 
pel ; and reverberate all the editorial and pulpit 
exhortations of Mr. Bebee, and his confederates. — 
This is reviving the old tenets of the Manichees ;, 
identifying the lamb with the lion,, and coupling the 
celestial dove with the infernal serpent ; in fact, 
God is here represented, as " absolutely predestina- 



OF ITS GARB. 161 

ting" violations, murders, adulteries, incests, iniquity 
and vice of every nature and distinction. 

Behold, this doctrine is homogeneal witb that of 
Spinora, Hobbes, and Voltaire. " my soul, corns 
not thou into their secret, unto their assembly, my 
honour, be not thou united!!'' Our editor certainly 
manifests himself as one of the most, awful charac- 
ters that ever existed ; for he, in the first place, tells 
us that God has " absolutely predestinated all 
things ;" and of course, Bible, Tract, and Missiona- 
ry Societies, Theological Seminaries, Sabbath 
School Unions, and the mother of Arminianism are 
among the " all things" which God has absolutely 
decreed ; and yet our editor rises up to oppose those 
things which God has absolutely decreed. Be aston- 
ished, heavens, and shudder, O earth, when we tell 
you that this inconsistent fatalist was one of that As- 
sociation which represented me as an " impostor," 
warned the public of my "impositions," and yet at the 
same time, indicates that I am irresistibly, or " abso- 
lutely predestinated" to bean " impostor," and then 
sets up a judgment seat, to damn me for my imposi- 
tions. Therefore let us ask again, may I not conceive 
myself to be highly honoured, when I am despised by 
such men, who are preaching, publishing, and dis- 
seminating such infidel doctrines, Antinomian creeds 
and. sectarian ideas, which must not only fill the minds 
of numbers with melancholy and distracting forebo- 
dings,, but cast the most awful reflections on the 
character of God, and contradicts his word, which 
uniformly describes him as delighting in the exer- 
cise of mercy, How much more just and worthy 
14* 



162 POPERY STRIPPED 

of a bountiful Creator, is that sentiment of Phare- 
cydes : " God transformed himself into love, when 
he made the world." 

To be despised by those who are 

Identified by faith and creeds, 
With such infamous men as those, 

Who have disgraced the former age,. 

Is honour, when compared with that 
Ignoble state in which those men 

Are fallen by their doctrines, 

And foaming out their raging sin. 

Why should 1 fear r or be dismay'd ? 

For I shall triumph, though they fall, 
Out wing and scale their hotest rage, 

And stand uninjur'd by them all. 

The next head of our editor's prospectus, at which 
we shall glance, is the 9th, a part of which reads 
thus : " The church of Christ is composed exclu- 
sively of baptized believers ;" (that is,) there are no 
members of the church of Christ, but those who have 
been baptized by immersion. This is the sentiment of 
two aged Baptist deacons who met me in the street 
the other day, and attacked my open and liberal 
sentiments, by attempling to show the impropriety 
of calling me a baptist minister, while an open com- 
munionist. These deacons persisted, yea, they 
seemed determined to persist, notwithstanding all 
my admonitions and entreaties, to call our Pedo- 
pabtist brethren unbelievers, and carried the idea 



OF ITS GARB. 163 

that they were not within the pale of the visible 
church. This is rigid comiramionism run to seed ; 
this is building the church ef Christ on the sandy- 
foundations of a non-essential ; this is at once ma- 
king as much of baptism by immersion, as the 
church of Rome has made of infant sprinkling. It is 
alarming that Baptist ministers, or Baptist deacons, 
should be found in the eighteenth century, main- 
taining such an idea, which is contrary to reason, 
falsified by universal argument, and dangerous in 
proportion to the credit it gains.. 

When I have supported the doctrine of baptism 
by immersion,, among my Pedobaptist brethren, 
they have often told me that many of the Baptists 
believed in, and inculcated the sentiments of the 
above characters, and I have as often denied the 
truth of such assertions ; but my late experience 
will correct this mistake, and tend to enlighten my 
darkness on that prodigy, and prodigious idea. 

But. what most astonishes us is, that these extra- 
ordinary characters should be, not at Lisbon or Ma- 
drid, but in the United States. Heaven save us ! 
ean it be possible that we have left a land of heredi- 
tary and monarchical despotism, to come to this 
land, famed for knowledge and liberality of sen- 
timent, to witness such heretical notions and con- 
tractions of the human mind ? Can it be possible, 
that we are thus translated from darkness to mys- 
tery, and from the twilight glimmering of reason to 
popery ? If so, we may well endeavor to strip this 
species of popery of its garb, and check this mighty 
torrent of popish iniquity : for such groveling ideas ; 



164 POPERY STRIPPED 

such straight-laced souls ; such bigoted hierarchs, 
are sectarian is-ts beyond measure, act inconsistent 
to an extreme, and unchristian to a most alarming 
extent : for it may fearlessly be maintained that Mr. 
Bebee, nor his associates, with the combined efforts 
of all our opponents, cannot prove the truth of their 
position ; nay, they are so far from this, that they 
are unable to prove that baptism is a pre-requisite 
to communion ^consequently, it is wild and extrava- 
gant for them lo say that baptism is essential to the 
visibility of the Christian-. 

The rigid Baptists, with all their varied efforts, 
were never able to prove this. They have searched, 
and written, argued, and concluded, but concluded 
without evidence. Then why should they call upon 
us to believe a doctrine which they have not proved ?• 
why represent a man as an " impostor," for believing 
that which they never proved to be false. 

Why propose to maintain " that the church of 
Christ is composed exclusively of baptized believ- 
ers" when such a doctrine is as groundless as 
transubstantiation^ as futile as the sacrifice of the 
mass, and a-s destitute of proof as any of the errors* 
of the church of Rome. 

Although our editor has been pretending for more 
than four years to prove his idea, and present to our 
view "The Signs of the Times;" he has not done so ;. 
he only raises a mist, without telling us where we 
are ; he casts us into a chaos, without enlightening 
our darkness. Therefore, if his " Signs of the 
Times" are " The Signs of the Times," then "The 
Signs of the Times" are becoming rather squally. 



OF ITS GARB. 165 

and ominious. We have at present a troubled at- 
mosphere ; the clouds lower, and the tempest im- 
pends, but we need an euroclydon of the moral kind 
to purify the air. The only way to get rid of legal- 
ized error and pernicious practices, consecrated by 
long usage, is fearlessly to attack by argument, and 
urge by expostulation, until we reach the point of 
proper excitement, and work conviction on the mind. 
As an evidence that we do not wish to injure our 
editor without a cause, we will here relate a circum- 
stance which tends to show how consistent he acts 
with the sentiment he has laid down in this 9th 
proposition. A few months since, I was introduced 
to him by one of his deacons ; after a little conver- 
sation he invited me to preach for him ; I observed 
that was a subject which demanded a few minifies 
consideration, and that I had found the Baptists in 
this country exceedingly prejudiced against the 
open communionists ; but notwithstanding that, I 
have the pleasure to inform you that I am one.— 
Now let us mark the sectarian answer he gave ; 
v O, then I cannot ask you to preach ;. you are of 
another denomination." 

Does not this savour of rigid sectarianism ? does 
it not bear the uncomely features of a party spirit '? 
is this any evidence, that he is in possession of that 
charity and forbearance which are characteristic of 
the true Christian ? does not this look like the very 
dregs of popish sectarianism, which ought to be de- 
spised by every lover of liberty ? Our editor pro- 
ceeds to express himself thus : " The Signs of the 
Times will be decidedly opposed to Bible, Tract, and 



166 POPERY STRIPPED 

Missionary Societies, Theological Seminaries, Sab- 
bath School Unions, &c. &c." Be astonished, O 
heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Satan himself, 
could do no more. 

"Tract Societies," which are composed of 
men whose talents command respect, and whose 
Christian virtues make them the ornaments of their 
country, and the lights of the world, whose unpar- 
alleled zeal in disseminating religious tracts, which 
recommend the purity of God, the authenticity of 
the Bible, and the doctrine of atonement by Jesus 
Christ ; and which have, in hundreds of instances, 
been made instrumental in leading poor lost sinners, 
to the bosom and fold of Christ ; yea, these honour- 
able and devoted men, are to be opposed in their 
work of faith, and labour of love ; yea, they are to 
be " opposed," vehemently " opposed," not by infi- 
dels, but by Mr. Bebee, a professing religious min- 
ister, and his inglorious newspaper, the matter and 
contents of which are to be inspired by some clo- 
ven-footed angel from the lower regions ; to be in- 
dicted by ignorance, and pressed on smoke. Such 
unmighty appositions ; such erroneous attempts ; 
such fiendish transactions, should draw forth our 
pity, aul induce us to say : " O Lord, wheat is man 
that thou art mindful of him V 

" Missionary Societies." — They who have sac- 
rificed their hundreds and thousands, and given up 
many of the comforts of this life, for the sake of diffu- 
sing the all-glorious truths of the Gospel of Christ ; 
even those who have been instrumental in snatching 
the poor infatuated idolaters from the wheels of Jug- 



OF ITS GARB, 167 

gernnut, and " leading them to the Lamb of God, 
who taketh away the sins of the world ;" who have 
been instrumental in inducing the islands of ihe 
earth to lay aside their darkness, superstitions, and 
casting their dumb idols to the moles and to the bats ; 
" who have caused the barren wilderness to blossom 
as the rose ;" even they are to be ' c opposed" by this 
infamous newspaper. Many of the most respect- 
able men of the world, of the first rate attainments, 
who have evinced in all their public actions a strong 
desire to do good, and promote the glory of God; 
to whose actions God has given sanction by crown- 
ing their endeavours and causing them to redound 
to the good of our fellow men, the improvement of 
the condition of the world, and blessing the sons of 
daikness with the immortal rays of the Son of 
Righteousness. Yes, the glorious Dr. Carey, who, 
for the good of our heathenish fellow-men, has de- 
voted his extensive mind, his ardent soul, for more 
than fifty years, amid the parching sands and scorch- 
ing sun of India, and who has been the principal of 
the Missionary Society, even he, notwithstanding 
his greatness, eminence and usefulness, is to be "op- 
posed." Ah ! yes, the immortal Fuller, who was 
one of the foremost in this glorious " Missionary" 
enterprise, who for years carried the flag of this 
heavenly band ; whose great mind was absorbed in 
this God-like work ; who displayed in this noble 
cause his mighty mind, his indefatigable soul, and 
his powerful oratory, by which he drew to his stand- 
ard thousands of listening admirers, and enlisted 
them in the glorious cause of promoting righteous- 



168 POPERY STRIPPED 

ness ; even his " Missionary" works are to be ques- 
tioned, his heavenly faith is to be belied, and then 
he is to be sacrificed on the altar of bigotry, by our 
satanical and ungenerous editor. 

" Theological Seminaries," are also to be " op- 
posed," the goodness and utility of which, the gar- 
bled production, the jumbled statements, theimme- 
thodical harangues of our editor are a standing evi- 
dence. 

" Theological Seminaries" naturally bring to our 
mind the idea of a young man, whom the church of 
which he is a member supposes to possess piety 
and talents ; therefore they call upon him to exer- 
cise his functions, and then feeling convinced of his 
competency, they send him to an academy, or in 
other words, they place him under the care of a 
judicious senior and able divine, by whom he is in- 
structed (not made a preacher of, as many of our 
editor's class suppose, for he is a preacher before he 
goes,) how to deliver his discourses in a prudent 
and methodical manner; to this is often added a 
classical education, or he is taught to read the Scrip- 
tures in the original. And where is the harm of 
all this ? Is he not better prepared to explain the 
word of God ? is not he more likely to give the 
people the true meaning of the Scriptures ? is he 
not thereby armed against falling into the errors of 
other translators ? is he not thereby guarded against 
the sceptical notions and the Antinomian creed of 
our inglorious and untutored editor ? Then what 
mighty or unmighty arguments can our editor pro- 
duce against the utility of these noble institutions ? 



OF ITS GARB. 169 

" Sabbath School Unions." — The next subject 
with which our editor proposes to inveigle our minds 
is the Sabbath School Unions. Observe, a number 
of Christians have united their efforts for the lauda- 
ble purpose of affording facilities to Sabbath School 
Unions, or to assist a number of young people who 
have agreed to instruct the rising generation to read 
the holy Scriptures. Now, behold,, these are to be 
"opposed," bitterly "opposed," by this incongru- 
ous, this opprobrious paper, " The Signs of the 
Times," the offspring of Antinomianism, the slan- 
derous vehicle, and the upholder of fatalism. But 
we might amuse ourselves for a moment by inqui- 
ring into the nature of the arguments, or of the op- 
position which Mr. B. will offer to these heavenly 
and charitable institutions. O why, there is no 
doubt but that he, with his magic art, will raise 
the wind and the smoke by which he may enter- 
tain a few children in knowledge, but which will 
only draw forth the sympathy of the enlightened, 
humane, and charitable part of mankind. Why 
should he have a desire to prevent the dear little 
children from being taught to read the Scriptures 
in the Sabbath Schools, except he, like the priests 
of the church of Rome, wishes the rising genera- 
tion to be kept in darkness, in order that they may 
be the better prepared to receive his dogma. As 
we are not willing to be tedious, we shall leave Mr. 
B. to fight his way through the mire of his inten- 
tions, to beat the air, and wrestle with the cloud of 
smoke which rises out of his wild and extravagant 
notions. It is frequently the case that when men 
15 



170 POPERY STRIPPED 

go to such extremes, they are often guilty of incon- 
sistencies, and palpable contradictions ; and this is 
the case with Mr. B., for we have before found him 
maintaining, or professing to maintain, " the abso- 
lute 'predestination of all things" But are not 
" Bible, Tract, and Missionary Societies, Theolo- 
gical Seminaries, and Sabbath School Unions," 
among all things which are " absolutely predes- 
tinated by the eternal sovereignty, immutability, 
omnipotence, and eternal perfections of the great 
Jehovah ?" Then why, let us ask with astonish- 
ment, should our editor have the audacity to write 
against the absolute decrees of the Almighty ? It 
is spurious and absurd for professing characters to 
entertain such skimbleskamble ideas, and only 
tends to lead the mind to scepticism and infidelity. 

From error, and from dangerous creeds, 
Preserve, O Lord, our thoughts and heads, 
And purify our souls from all 
The consequences of the fall. 

May we not choose for our colleagues, 
The infidels of every age, 
Nor join with them who join with sin, 
To crucify the Lord again. 

May we receive with all their proofs, 
The doctrines of grace, which shows 
That we accountable must be 
To God on the great judgment day. 



OF ITS GARB. 171 



CHAPTER V. 

Strictures on the conduct of the Hudson Riyer Papisti- 
cal Association. 

Since we were not aware of the wicked plots and 
infernal schemes, which the New York and War- 
wick Associations had laid against us, we neither 
sought nor inquired for the minutes and pamphlets 
published by them ; therefore, there was no oppor- 
tunity to set ourselves right, nor to lift up a standard 
against the mighty torrent of iniquity and priestcraft 
which was imperceptibly working as a deluging 
flood above our heads. And since there was not a 
syllable of opposition uttered from our lips, they 
appeared to have imagined that we were lifeless 
drones, and so far destitute of the feelings of men, 
that we could bear to be trampled upon with their 
invectives, represented as deceptive mendicants, or 
as those going about to cheat, delude, and " impose" 
upon the careful Baptists, consequently they took 
greater liberties with us than the other Associations 
in the following unblushing, infernal, and lying 
statement — " a caution respecting James Horner 
recently from England, who" is "represented as 
imposing" his " person and services upon the 
churches as" a " Minister of our denomination." 

Now here we have, 



172 POPERY STRIPPED 

First. — A palpable falsehood. 

Secondly. — A base insinuation. 

Thirdly. — The working of iniquity. 

Fourthly. — A rancorous slander. 

Fifthly. — Wicked policy. 

Sixthly. — Carnal Nationality. 

Seventhly. — A violation of all laws, 

1 . — A palpable falsehood. 

For we positively declare that we never visited nor 
called upon any church or churches connected with 
the Hudson River Association. We therefore chal- 
lenge those w r ho have been the wicked inventors of 
this notorious and lying slander and palpable false- 
hood, to produce a single evidence of the truth of this 
infamous charge. Although I am not a prophet 
nor the son of a prophet, yet I dare venture to pre- 
dict that they never will, and as they are convinced 
of their incapability to do so, it is not likely that 
they will make the attempt. For they know as 
well as we do, that they might as well attempt to 
prove that Mahomet was a saviour, or that Judas 
was not a traitor, or that they are not papistical 
persecutors — consequently it must appear exceed- 
ingly strange, flagrant and villainous, that a number 
of men calling themselves the ministers of Jesus 
Christ, the leaders of the people, and examples of 
goodness should associate to invent, to hatch up, 
and circulate such a barefaced and perfidious 
slander, how they will account for their atrocious 
conduct either in this world or the world to come, 
is to us exceedingly mysterious. For we cannot 
bring to our mind a more infamous sin than to 



OF ITS GARB. 173 

represent a man against whom they have not the 
slightest evidence of guilt, as the worst of rogues, 
merely for the sake of securing their paltry 
sectarian and popish craft, and upsetting open com- 
munionism in order to place the above declarations 
beyond the possibility of a doubt, we will here give 
a faithful copy of a few dialogues which have passed 
between some of our nefarious enemies and myself. 

The confession of Mr. Willis. Having under- 
stood that Mr. Willis was chosen member of the 
committee which was (not to investigate my char~ 
acter nor inquire into the evidence of the charge laid 
against me) but to condemn me as an " impostor," 
I made a purposed journey to him, and as an 
evidence of what passed between us, I engaged the 
Rev. Frey to go with me and take down the dia- 
logue between us in short-hand-writing, and as it 
was judged to be highly calculated to show the public 
that the above advertisement is a base and unfoun- 
ded slander, and convince them how ignorant this 
man was of me and all that concerns my character, 
and therefore unfit to be a member of that commit- 
tee which agreed to inflict on me the bitterest and 
worst of all punishments, by representing me to the 
world at large as an " impostor," and addressed him 
as follows : 

Horner. Mr. Willis, sir, my name is Horner, a 
Baptist minister recently from England. 

I have now called to ask why you and the com- 
mittee of which you was a member, condemned me 
as a rogue and an awful " impostor." 
15* 



174 POPERY STRJPPED 

Willis. I do not know any thing about it, I never 
saw you nor heard of your name before. 

H. It is exceeding strange that you and your 
committee should agree to place my name on the 
black catalogue of infamy and disgrace, consign 
my name over to scorn and derision, and at the same 
time know nothing about me. 

W. I do not know any thing about the circum- 
stance, nor what you allude to. 

H. But do you not recollect that you was chosen 
a member of a committee by the Association which 
sat at Albany a few weeks since. 

N. B. Mr. W. paused, and then said, O yes, yes, 
I remember the circumstance now, but I did not 
know that you was the person, 

H. Yes, Mr. W., I am that abused man who, 
though I never injured the hair of your head, nor 
u imposed" upon you, nor any man in the world, 
and against whose character you cannot prove a 
single charge, yet, you and the committee to which 
you belonged, have cast out my name as evil, thrown 
my character to the four winds of heaven, and un- 
mercifully attempted to set the prejudices of the 
public upon me, yet you confess that you was to- 
tally ignorant of my name, person, and character. 

W. Although they placed your name on the mi- 
nutes designedly to warn the churches against you, 
yet they did not mean to say that you was a rogue, 
nor one half so bad as you appear to imagine. 

H. Neither me nor the public have so much to 
do with their meaning as with the deffinitions. of the 



OF ITS GARB. 175 

words they have employed, you will not deny but 
that your Association has insinuated in their minutes 
that I am an " impostor," and does not that imply 
that 1 am a cheat — a vagrant — a rogue, or one who 
robs all with whom he has any chance, or one who 
is a walking pestilence — a scum to society — who 
ought to be turned out of doors by all, and trampled 
under the derision of men. 

Rev. Frey. I think Mr. Horner, that you are too 
warm, you must not let your feelings overcome you, 
you will always find mildness the best. There is 
no doubt but that if you convince the Association 
that they have done wrong, they will recall what 
they have done amiss. We cannot suppose, since 
the ilssociation was composed of good men, (at any 
rate the majority of them we hope were good men,) 
they could not designedly do you any harm. 

H. I thank you exceedingly Mr. Frey, for your 
fatherly advice, and every kind admonition which 
may drop from your lips. I know that I possess 
keen feelings, and I do not know how to avoid those 
feelings under present pressing circumstances. But 
just for a moment apply the case to yourself, and 
imagine that you are a stranger from a foreign coun- 
try, and suppose that the Baptist ministers of New- 
York, or the whole of them belonging to the Hud- 
son River Association, who collect subscriptions 
from the people by which they are enabled to pub- 
lish their minutes, newspapers, pamphlets, &c. &c. 
And suppose they snatch your fair name from the 
honourable pages on which it was pressed, and 
place, it within the covers of their black book, and 



176 POPERY STRIPPED 

liken your character to the iniquitous workers of 
darkness, and place you on a level with convicted 
thieves of the most abandoned character. I say, 
suppose they exert their mighty machine of publi- 
cations, and by means of them, deliver you up to 
public scorn and derision ; likewise, suppose that 
you are an innocent stranger, who never hurt nor 
attempted to injure the hair of their heads, that 
you have no publications for which the people are 
called upon to pay; no long standing influence in 
this country, but few friends to sympathize with you 
and pour into your wounded soul the oil of joy and 
consolation ; that you are a mere stripling by the 
side of a panoplaed, gorgeous, and mighty Philis- 
tine. I say, my dear sir, would your feelings be 
blunted in such a case ? What if they should draw 
their two-edged sword, drive their keenest dagger to 
the very heart of your character, and spit the poison 
of asps in your face, would you cease to feel keenly 
in such a case, and under such circumstances ? 
What, sir, would you not evince a spiritual hero- 
ism, equip yourself like a man and fortify your cha- 
racter against their aspersions and invidious at- 
tempts ? Is it possible that any man in the world 
would evince such a dronish disposition and little- 
ness of mind, as not to manifest keen feelings un- 
der such trying circumstances 1 

But, sir, although my feelings are warm on this 
subject, yet I am not overcome by them. I always 
profess to have my feelings in subjection to reason, 
and trust that I am enabled to maintain that profes- 
sion even under these circumstances, and on this 



OF ITS GARB. 177 

occasion. As for the Association altering what they 
have done amiss, in my opinion it is beyond their 
power, for they have already turned the prejudices of 
the people against me, and when the public mind 
is once prejudiced it is very hard to turn it. You 
know as well as I do that a good name is easier 
lost than found. The public mind is naturally 
more inclined to receive a bad report" of a person 
than a good one. If the Association had the small- 
est share of humanity, they would have thought 
on these things. As for their being good or bad 
men, is a subject which I am not much disposed to 
investigate ; however, if I were called upon to form 
an opinion on that particular, and had nothing to 
judge from but their conduct towards me, I should 
not suppose them to be very angelic, or that they 
were very harmless or inoffensive creatures. For I 
feel that I am under the necessity of thinking that 
it is my duty to dread them as I would a deceit- 
ful snake, and shun them as I would a venomous 
viper. Nay, sir, my feelings are so far from abat- 
ing, that the more I reflect on the subject, the more 
my feelings are excited, and no wonder. Let us 
look at the case again : 

Here is Mr. Willis, w T ho, though his eye-brows 
are whitened with age, and the wrinkles of his 
face denote the maturity of his judgment, yet he 
has allowed a few of the New-York crafty hierarchs 
to make a tool of him and his brother judges, and 
to make them the perpetrators of one of the worst of 
crimes to which any man or set of men could set 
their hands and seals. 



178 POPERY STRIPPED 

Why, sir, the moment I cease to feel in a case 
like this, that very moment I become a novice ; for 
it is a philosophical rule, that where there is no 
mind there is no feeling — that there is never much 
production where there is no keen perception, 

For little heads and little minds, 
With dronish feelings now combines ; 
The greatest knaves do feel the last 
Of all who are from Adam cast. 

If reason do my feelings guide, 
My conscience then will never chide, 
For grace does sanction nature's laws, 
And generates the feeling powers. 

W. You should inquire of others who know 
more about the matter than me. 

H. Well, who are they ? 

W. Elder Middleton, of New-York, appeared to 
be more interested, and to know more about the 
matter than any other of the committee. 

H. He might appear to know more about me 
than you ; but, in my opinion, it was only appear- 
ance. That he manifested a deeper interest in the 
matter, is easy to be conceived ; because I have 
collected a congregation not far from his place of 
w r orship It was, therefore, carnal and human-na- 
ture-like for him to imagine that if he could succeed 
in burying me beneath the prejudices of the people, 
it might redown to his interest. But there is no 
doubt but that we shall have some faithful dealings 
with that gentleman, in his turn. 



OF ITS GARB. 179 

After these observations, the Rev. Frey rose to 
return to his home. Whether he was disgusted or 
not with the conduct of the Association, he did not 
say ; but if we may be allowed to form an opinion 
from his demeanor, we should say that he was fully 
convinced of the wicked policy, and crafty manoeu- 
vring of that wicked council, to prejudice the pub- 
lic mind against me ; which wickedness is fully 
manifested by the fact, that they, elected men to be 
my judges who were totally ignorant of me and my 
character, the principal of whom were interested 
in my destruction, and who have sought for my in- 
terment beneath the ashes of their own creation ; 
but God will take the self-wise in their own crafti- 
ness. 

We have now before us, the confession of one 
of my principal judges, or rather of one who con- 
demned me, for whom we feel sorry ; because it is 
evident, that a foxified Cone, and a few other self- 
interested individuals, have taken an advantage of 
Mr. W.'s age and infirmities, and converted him 
into a mere tool by which to carry on their wicked 
works ; but they are the most to be pitied who have 
thus taken an advantage of his age and infirmities. 

Such feeble men, with feeble minds, 
Who thus condemn the man of whom 
They have no evidence of crimes, 
Nor proof that he's done any harm. 

They cannot be esteem'd by those 
Who hate injustice, and approve 
Of equity and holy laws — 
Of peace and joy, and Christian love. 



180 POPERY STRIPPED 

The confession of Elder Middleton. Having 
been informed by Mr. Willis that the Rev. Middle- 
ton, of New York, was the principal acting agent in 
the committee which agreed to represent me as an 
" impostor" to the world, I thought it my duty to 
call upon him, and since it was thought probable 
that the conversation which passed between us would 
be brought before the public, and knowing how 
likely my opponents were to say that I misrepre- 
sented his statement, I took my friend Mr. Wood, 
a Baptist minister, with me as a witness of what 
might be said, and to guard against mistakes I was 
careful to pencil the dialogues in stenographi- 
cal characters. Well, we had the good fortune 
to find him at home, and when we met him at the 
door and gave him our names, we were ushered 
into the parlour. When we were seated, I addressed 
him thus : 

Horner. Was not you, sir, chosen by the Hud- 
son River Association member of a committee which 
agreed to 'represent me as an " impostor" to the 
world at large, by the medium of a pamphlet pub- 
lished by that aasembly ? 

Middleton. I don't know you nor any thing 
about the case. 

H. That is very remarkable, but do you not 
recollect my name being mentioned there ? 

M. I think I have some recollection of that 
name, is not that name on our minutes in connexion 
with the names of some other persons who are 
represented as " imposing" on our churches ? 

H. You should know whether it is or not ? 



OF ITS GARB. 181 

M. We have that name on our minutes, but 
whether it is your's or not, I am not able to say. 

H. Is it not exceeding strange that you should 
agree to represent a man to the public as an " im- 
postoousr" villain or rogue, when at the very same 
time you know nothing about him ? 

M. We do not intend to represent you as a 
rogue, sir. 

jff". But is not the term " impostor''' synonymous 
with the term villain or rogue, or does it not imply 
that I am a wretched hypocrite, a walking pest who 
goes about for nothing but to cheat, plunder, and 
steal ? 

M. We do not mean all that by what is said in 
the minutes, besides, what is said there was copied 
from other minutes. 

H. From what minutes ? 

M. I cannot recollect just now. 

H. Whether what you say is true or not, it is no 
proof of your justification for inflicting a punishment 
on a man without evidence of guilt. I look upon 
what you say as an unmanly excuse for your wilful 
ignorance and wickedness. 

M. I think that you are very rude Mr. Horner. 

H. I think that I am justly faithful and christianly 
candid, and only speak the words of truth and sober- 
ness. If I do not, give me an evidence that I speak 
falsely, and with that I will be satisfied. I there- 
fore ask you where are the evidences of my " impo- 
sitions" 

M. I will not answer you in private, you may 
go to others. 

16 



182 POPERY STRIPPED 

H. To whom shall I go, for I have already been 
east, west, north, and south, to seek for my per- 
secutors and slanderers, but when I meet with them 
they are all like you, they know nothing about the 
matter. They choose to have nothing to do with 
it. And I can assure you that I am exceedingly 
happy that they appear to be ashamed of their dirty 
tricks 1 

M. I will not answer you privately, you may go 
to the public meeting. 

H. I suppose you mean when the Association 
meets again, and it seems from this time to that, I 
must continue to lie under public scorn and derision 
without any steps being taken to relieve my distress 
or to extricate me from the weight of your wrath 
and persecuting indignation ? 

M. If you want to shun the trouble you complain 
of, you should have brought credentials from your 
own country with you. 

H. How do you know that I have not 1 

M. Why I have been informed that you never 
produced them. 

H. Is that any proof that I have not got any ? 

M. If you have any it is strange that you have 
not produced them. 

H. It would be stranger still, if I were to pro- 
duce them to those with whom I have no more to 
do than the eagle that soars above my head. I 
never claimed any connexion with the rigid Baptists. 
I never asked the ministers of this city or any other 
to allow me to saddle their influence by which 
to ride to any small or fat salary. I never asked 



OF ITS GARB. 



183 



them for the use of a pulpit, a single cent, nor any 
favour of any description — then since I have nothing 
to do with them why ought they to interfere with 
me, by the plenitude of their invectives and popish 
anathemas. 

M. Then you ought not to call on their churches. 

H. Wen did I do so ? 

M. I have been informed that you did so. 

H. Then you have been told a palpable false- 
hood, for I have never called on a single church of 
your Association ! Who gave you the information ? 

M. If you will not give an account of yourself, 
you must suffer. 

H. Why should I be accountable to you any 
more than you are to me ? 

Heaven savti us, what unblushing, daring usur- 
pers you must be to suppose that I ought to be 
ameniable or accountable in any shape or manner 
to you ; besides, sir, you act exceedingly unfair even 
to insinuate that I have not shone my credentials, 
for T have not only given my credentials to the peo- 
ple of which I am pastor, but that gentleman who 
is present, has seen them. (N. B. Mr. Wood to 
Mr. Middleton,) yes, sir, I have seen them. 

H. That being the case, it is only a wicked falacy 
of my enemies to insinuate that I have none, for it 
is most evident that their design in doing so is to 
set the prejudices of the public against me. But it 
is my opinion that they will be taken in their own 
craftiness, and that God will cause all their infer- 
nal designs to redound to my good, for as sure as 
I live, I will give a portrait of their atrocious and 



IS4 POPERY STRIPPED 

persecuting conduct to the world, strip their popish 
conduct of its garb, and check the mighty torrent 
of their unparalleled iniquity. With these obser- 
vations, sir, I will bid you good morning. 

M. Good morning, sir, and I can assure you, 
Mr. Horner, that although I have had an interview 
with you, I have not formed a better opinion of you 
than the minutes represent you. 

H. As for your opinion, sir, I care- as little about 
that as the dirt under my feet. Why should I caro 
about the opinion of a man who has no objections 
to do his neighbour all the injury in his power, and 
that without any just cause, although you are one= 
of the principal who have had to do- with this mat- 
ter, yet you have not produced a single evidence 
that I am guilty of the crime with which, yon. charge 
me, and as for all the apologies you attempt to make; 
for your wickedness, they may be all blown about, 
like so many bubbles from a tobacco pipe. 

Surely, sir, you cannot suppose that I court your 
good opinion, or that I shall make my remarks on 
this subject with an hypocritical softness; no, sir, 
my aim is to face my enemies with a Nathan's bold- 
ness, and a Christian-like faithfulness, who faced 
their enemies with the following majestic- words : 
"Thou art the man," iL ye are of your father," the- 
devil, for his work ye do, and if for this I am de- 
spised by you it shall ever be my motto. 

Reflection. 

We have- before us the miserable confession of 
one of my principal judges who was elected to that 






OF ITS GARB. 185 

office, not because of the magnanimity of his mind, 
but because his penurious situation induced him to 
be led by those on whom he is dependant. A judge 
who was not to examine evidences, but to inflict 
punishment, not to investigate the case, but to pro- 
nounce a sentence, not to be guided by the laws of 
reason, of nations, nor of God, but the despotism of 
his own will, or the whims, wishes, and caprices of 
others, convinced undoubtedly of his dependance on 
his ministerial brethren, who, from their higher, but 
unmerited situations, can better command the cha- 
rities and subscriptions of the people towards his 
support; how far he was remunerated for filling the 
office of a judge, on this occasion, we are not able 
to say, but we have been respectfully informed that 
a few Sabbaths after he gave his judgment against 
me, he received a liberal and veiy charitable sub- 
scription, not from Mr. Cone, O no, but from Mr. 
Cone's people ; with the fact before us, that Mr. 
Middleton is a poor dependant creature, we wish 
to wave many other observations which might be 
thrown out on his inconsistent and unchristian con- 
duct towards me. 

How awful are the men who run 
With speed to do their neighbours harm; 
Their conduct is an evidence, 
That their profession is pretence. 

If they should dress religiously, 

They manifest hypocrisy, 

Who make pretensions unto that 

To which they had neither claim nor right 
16* 



186 POPERY STRIPPED 

Two letters to the Rev. Cone and animadver- 
sions on his conduct. 

Having understood that the Rev. Cone, of this 
city, was chairman for the Albany council, which 
agreed to defame my character in a pamphlet pub- 
lished by them, I wrote and directed two letters to 
him, of which the following are copies. 

New-York, Titt-street, 107. 

Sir, — I understand that you was chairman of the 
Association which was held in the meeting-house 
of the First Baptist Church at Albany, on the 20th 
and 21st of June, 1832. 

I am also informed, that the above assembly of 
very Reverend Divines agreed to do me all the in- 
jury in their power, by representing me as an " im- 
postor" to the godly as well as to the ungodly world. 

And as you was at the helm of all the important 
affairs which transpired at that council, you can, un- 
doubtedly, inform me of the nature of my guilt, and 
the evidences of those charges which your Associ- 
ation have against me, in so doing you will confer 
an obligation on your humble servant, 

J. M. Horner. 

Having waited two or three months without re- 
ceiving an answer to the above, and perceiving that 
he had no desire to make me acquainted with the 
nature and evidences of the enormous crime with 
which he and all his adherents charged me, nor to 
deliver me from the public scorn and derision un- 
der which the said assembly had thrown me. I 
directed the following note to him. 



OF ITS GARB. 187 



New-York, Pitt-street, No. 107. 



Sir — The Baptist Association which assembled 
at Albany on the 20th and 2 1st June, 1832, of which 
you was the chairman, have, in a pamphlet publish- 
ed by them, designated me an " impostor ;" which 
is equivalent to calling me a villain, a fraudulent 
fellow, a cheat, a swindler, a pest to society, a 
scum of the earth, &c. 

Having considered that this is a malevolent and 
foul charge, and the probability that it would load 
my name with scorn and obloquy, and sink it into 
everlasting disgrace except I opposed it, I have 
consulted the State authorities, by which means I 
am fully convinced that your meeting has violated 
the laws of our country. And as you was the 
principal of that meeting, you must expect to bear 
a considerable portion of the blame, except you can 
assign plausible and satisfactory reasons for this 
extraordinary attempt to injure my character. I am 
aware that the holy principles which you and I pro- 
fess, recommend that brethren do not go to law one 
with another ; but I must, for the sake of my char- 
acter, and the doctrine I profess, be determined on 
my own justification. 

A few months ago I directed a few lines to you, 
requesting that you would be kind enough to give 
the nature of my guilt, and the evidences of it. 
But it appears that you have treated my natural and 
reasonable request with silence, for I have not re- 
ceived an answer. 

If you will adopt the rule laid down in Matt.xviii. 
15 — 17, I will not be backward to hear you, and if 



188 POPERY STRIPPED 

you convince me that I have imposed upon or de- 
frauded any man, I will restore him four fold. 
Yours, &c. 

J. M. Horner. 

Although it is nearly four years since the 
first of these letters was sent, yet we have re- 
ceived no reply to either of them. Thus we per- 
ceive that he treats these reasonable requests with 
silence and contempt. 

But his silence in this case is an evidence that 
he was convinced that he had a bad job in hand, and 
therefore judged it best to retire behind the curtain 
and prevent as much as possible his diabolical craft 
from being brought to public view. 

Does not his conduct in this case resemble the 
snake which having spit forth its foulest venom, 
seeks to hide itself in that silence of which nature 
has made it capable. Does it not show that he was 
afraid that his self-conceived greatness and his un- 
valued importance, would be brought to public ridi- 
cule and contempt ? Is not such conduct, under 
such circumstances, as unmanly and base as it is 
unchristian and wicked ? 

We cannot in this case behold any of that mag- 
nanimity of mind — any of that spirit to reprove and 
rebuke — no, nor yet any of that candour and faith- 
fulness which ought to characterize the minister of 
Jesus Christ. 

Admitting that I am as vile an " impostor" and 
even worse than they would make me out to be, is 
that any proof that I ought not to be made ac- 



OF ITS GARB. 189 

quainted with the evidences of my guilt before pun- 
ishment is inflicted ? To say that I ought not, is 
despotism beyond description, worse than popery to 
an awful extent, and very unfitting the American 
character. 

This slanderous falsehood is as infamous and as 
black as any that was ever applied to the character 
of our Saviour by the carnal and malicious Jews. 
And as the Jews hurried themselves on to charge 
the Saviour falsely, and attached to his character the 
blackest names which they could possibly borrow 
from the vocabulary of infamy, with a design to 
build up their own notions and sect, and so sink the 
weight of his arguments in the estimation of the 
public ; so our rigid friends, or rather our wicked 
malign and malevolent enemies, being desirous cf 
securing their own craft, build up their sect by bu- 
rying me in disgrace — have laboriously travelled 
over their lexicons for the purpose of finding one of 
the foulest terms which they by a satanical influ- 
ence have been enabled to convert into a vehicle to 
convey their besotied spite and infuriated malice 
on a pitiable defenceless stranger. And when we 
ask them for a reason for their infamous conduct, 
they retire from the public stage on which they 
have perpetrated the black deed, and crowd their 
contracted minds in a nutshell ; and though they 
have left my character bleeding at a thousand 
pores, they pass heedlessly along without attempt- 
ing to heal the wounds they have inflicted. 

Therefore, this is the k^s that makes me a 
«gw«s and the k^^ov by which we may all judge 



190 POPERY STRIPPED 

of his cowardly conduct. For since he has an* 
swered none of these letters, does it not prove 
that he is inexorabilis, and that as he is disposed to 
pass sentence on others without examination, so he 
will not allow himself to be investigated. We here 
need the keen perception of an immortal Milton, 
and the penetration of a Spurzheim to perceive the 
heights and depths of wickedness and self-import- 
ance which are couched under his opprobrious con- 
duct in this case. 

When innocence is thus assailed 
With scorn and obloquy, 
How wretched are the men who dare 
Display such tyranny. 

They manifest a Nero's rage, 
A Popish mind unfolds, 
And minds contracted by the laws 
Of tyrants and their rules. 

Ignoble is the sect or men 
Who seek to build their creeds. 
By thus disgracing other names, 
And characters derides. 

May Heaven but strip such Popery 
Of its infamous garb, 
And slay the wicked man of sin, 
Or check him with a curb. 

His heights and depths of wickedness, 
Were hid in secrecy, 
But we'll ungown the monster now, 
And strip such Popery. 






OP ITS GARB. 191 

His cruel, base iniquity, 
Shall now be brought to light ; 
His crafty doings shall be brought 
From darkness of the night. 

No secrecy his deeds shall cloak, 
No priestly craft shall hide, 
For reformation's light shall blaze, 
Such usurpers to chide. 

Come, then, Columbia's sons, with me, 
And join our holy ranks ; 
Let's march to check such monsters now, 
And rally on their flanks. 

Control their usurpations now, 
Before their strength increase ; 
Bend despotism in the twig, 
Its base designs deface. 

Then equity shall clothe your brows 
With diadems, and crown 
Your patriotic heads, and show 
You glory and renown. 

It is likely that he will think our remarks on his 
conduct, severe ; if so, he is welcome. For he ought 
to remember, that he has ploughed iniquity and 
sowed wickedness, and therefore must expect to 
reap thorns and thistles, to harrass and perplex his 
feelings. If we had nothing to enable us to form 
an opinion of his character, but his conduct towards 
us, we might suppose him to be a voluptuous Nero, 



192 POPERY STRIPPED 

whose happiness could not be completed, but in 
the destruction of others. And could he, by the 
strength of his name, and the might of his influence, 
accomplish the destruction of my character, there 
is no doubt but that he would tune his lyre, sing of 
the transaction and the security of his craft. 

Are not these faithfully transmitted and unvar- 
nished facts sufficient to prove our first proposition. 
And while they do that, do not they at the same 
time, evince the wickedness of our opprobrious en- 
emy, " and that their sectarian and slanderous 
bulls, " Telum imbellesine ictu." Therefore, 

Let shame and fear disturb their guilty mind, 
Till solemnized by thought, they are constrain'd 
To ask for pardon at the hands of Him 
Who gives remission to repenting men. 

They by their acts the innocent ordain 
To live detested or expire in pain ; 
But Providence will surely interfere, 
And condescend our character to clear. 

Our enemies, O Lord, are in thy hand, 
Though canst subdue and make the tyrant bend ; 
Their wickedness thou canst control, and cause 
Them to be chastis'd by thy holy laws. 

Conceiving that we have fully established and, 
clearly proved, that our implacable enemies are 
guilty of a wilful lying slander against my name 
and character, we shall proceed to our next propo- 
sition, and show, that they are guilty of 



OF ITS GARB. 193 

2. A base insinuation. 

They knew that the people were likely to be in- 
fluenced by their insinuation, because they had de- 
corated and thrown around themselves the name of 
"" ministers of Jesus Christ." xlnd &ince they were 
ornamented with a priestly garb, they knew that 
they were connected with a number of people, 
among whom there were but few who would re- 
quire evidences of what was said by men so desig- 
nated and associated. They knew that a number 
of the common people were as likely to be influen- 
ced nearly as much by the Albany Council, as the 
papists by the Council of Trent ; consequently, 
that a mere insinuation was sufficient to turn the 
prejudices of the people against me ; or, " Ad cap- 
tandvm vulgus." It is lamentable that so many of 
the Baptists (who wish to be considered judicious 
and sensible,) should allow themselves to be so 
awfully influenced by an insinuation without a 
foundation — a statement without facts — and such a 
wicked attempt without a just or reasonable cause. 

For when they say that J. H. is an " impostor" 
they mean, of course, that he is a cheat, a fraudulent 
fellow, a vagrant, and therefore, a rogue, a breaker 
of the laws of God and man ; a desperate wretch, 
who goes about for nothing but to rob, plunder, and 
steal ; or that he is one who is to be dreaded more 
than the reptile of the woods, the ravenous beasts of 
the forest, or the carnivorous inhabitants of the air; 
consequently, if he is permitted to live, he will use 
his tongue to our hurt, and as he is accustomed to 
his pen and the press, he may exercise them agains* 
17 



194 POPERY STRIPPED 

us, and our craft will be endangered ; therefore let 
him be buried in the prejudices of the people, ruined 
by our reproaches, and thrown in disgrace and obli- 
vion by our sarcasms. None of them can deny but 
that the above is a correct definition of the term 
" impostor ;" neither can they deny that when their 
conduct is interpreted into language, it means as 
much as is here stated. 

Wherefore, it is impossible that any person of 
decent and virtuous principles, can relish the low 
vulgarism which characterizes their advertisement. 
It is fair to conclude, that if they wanted to sour the 
minds of the people against my sentiments, they 
might have found words to express their dislike, 
without manifesting such low vulgarity. 

But tasteless minds and tasteless souls, 
Always select their tasteless scrowls. 

But a selection of the most polished and refined 
terms, manifesting exquisite taste, would be wicked 
to an extreme, if those terms spoke falsehood and 
circulated a black slander; and that they have spread 
abroad a most infamous and unproved slander, is 
evident from the confessions and conduct of our ma- 
lignant enemies.* Then is it not evident that their 
attacks on my character are cruel to an extreme, 
base beyond measure, and wicked in their design? 
which is only to be accounted for, from the follow- 
ing considerations : 

1st. That the best of ministers are men with pas- 

* See page 180. 



OF ITS GARB. 195 

.ions like the rest of mankind, and that a number of 
them are worse, being entirely influenced in all their 
transactions, by secular motives and carnal policy. 

2d. That when I first came to New York, my 
friends opened a room for public worship, and that 
such men as Cone, Benedict, and Middleton might 
feel afraid lest such a circumstance would tend to 
lessen the number of their pew holders and subscri- 
bers. 

3d. That they have long been afraid that the doc- 
trine of open communion would effect their churches 
and congregations ; and behold, that which they most 
of all dreaded, is come upon them. For they have 
now met with one whose conscience they cannot 
bribe, whose voice they cannot silence, and whose 
doctrine they cannot confound. 

They know that they might as well attempt to 
forbid the tide to rise, as to stifle his conscience ; 
that they could as well make the sun stand still, as 
to prevent him from talking and vindicating what he 
believes to be right ; that they might as well attempt 
to maintain that black is white, as to prove that his 
sentiments are false. 

They never have done this, neither is it within 
their power. 

It would be -far more consistent on their part, to 
meet us on level ground, with fair and legitimate 
arguments, than to follow me as they have done, 
with the foulest species of persecution — namely, 
slander. This being done, they have sought to hide 
themselves under the fallen and rotten leaves of 
their sophisticated imaginations, and fallacious in- 



196 POrERY STRIPPED 

ventions, from beneath which they do nothing but 
hiss as we pass by them ; which leaves they have 
attempted to manufacture into aprons, with which 
they wish to hide their own shame and frightful 
uncomeliness. But which at the same time reveals 
their secret, indecorous, and sinful inclinations. 

While they are prosecuting their infernal design, 
and accomplishing their invidious attempts, human- 
ity calls aloud for us to pity their miserable condi- 
tion, and to seek for the salvation of their enslaved 
minds. For when men cannot be contented nor 
gratified without allowing such fiendish dispositions 
to break forth on the face of their conduct, it is 
piteous, and calls aloud for our exertions towards 
their emancipation from that enslaved malicious- 
ness under which they are labouring. Then let no 
one think it strange that we conceive it to be our 
duty to place these observations in their hands, to 
place them " In for o conscientice" 

May Christ command his grace to rest 
On these our enemies, and bless 
Them with convictions of their guilt, 
And show to them their arrant fault. 

Thirdly — In this advertisement lue behold the 
ivorking of iniquity — 

Which was generated in evil minds ; brought 
into existence by a priestly council at Albany ; 
commissioned and sent abroad by a malicious spirit. 
J. H. by it is charged with roguery without investi- 
gation — of heretical sentiments, without proof— of 



OF ITS GARB. 197 

" imposition," without evidence. In fact it is a most 
awful species of violent persecution. 

We have been accustomed to acquaint ourselves 
with men and things, with the laws and politics of 
different countries, and especially with the proceed- 
ings of the Church of Rome. And after all, we are 
decidedly of opinion that we could have lived as 
safe and as free from slanderous persecution in Spain 
or Switzerland as we have here. 

We do not mean to say that the laws and politics 
of this country interfere with our liberty, for they 
seem to afford us all desirable facilities. We have 
lived in this country for more than four years, yet 
we have defrauded no man. We have not violated 
its laws, nevertheless we are in this land (famed as 
it is for liberty) followed with foul and unfounded 
slanders, with gross misrepresentations, and excru- 
ciating tortures of the most barbarous kind. For 
this is an attempt to make the people believe that 
we are unfit for the situation on which (for aught 
our implacable enemies know,) we are dependent 
for our subsistence, therefore their conduct is a plain 
manifestation of their desire to see us starve in a 
foreign land of plenty. 

This is, as far as we are able to judge, fomenting 
and working up an iniquitous spirit, evincing an 
undue concern for their own interests, and all the 
malice and hatred of which only the worst of men 
are capable. In fact, we look upon it as an incon- 
testable evidence that they possess a foul, popish, 
and persecuting spirit. Had they as much stately 
power in the country as they have influence in the 
17* 



198 POPERY STRIPPED 

Albany council, we do not believe that my life or 
liberty would be secure many hours, since they 
have exercised all the length and breadth of their 
power against us. We have nothing to guarantee 
that they would not have done more, provided it 
had been in their power. 

In the reign of Charles the First, " Dr. Leighton 
for writing a book against the Episcopal govern- 
ment, was fined £10,000, perpetual imprisonment 
and whipping ; he was whipped and placed in the 
pillory, one of his ears cut off, one side of his nose 
slit, and then branded on the cheek with a red hot 
iron, with the letters S S, whipped a seeond time, 
and placed on the pillory. A fortnight afterward, 
his sores being not yet healed, he had the other 
cheek branded, and continued in prison till the long 
parliament set him at liberty." 

Now we will not say that our worst enemies have 
fined me £10,000, but they have tried their very 
best to take away my all. They have not whipped 
me, but they have lashed 'me with their false slan- 
ders and keen reproaches. They have not placed 
me in the pablic pillory, but they have lifted me up 
to public derision.. They have not cut my ears, 
but they have endeavoured to prevent others from 
hearing what I have to say in support of my open 
and liberal sentiments. 

They have also branded the very face of my cha- 
racter with — rogue — rogue — vagrant — vagrant — 
" impostor" — " impostor," and in that state they have 
held it up to public view. They have not confined 
me in prison, but they have placed me in the dark 



OF ITS GARB. 199 

cells of their hatred and scorn, and in this most aw- 
ful predicament I must languish out my dreary hours, 
days, months, and years, till their inhuman, Trent- 
ish, Popish, Albany council condescends to set me 
at rightful liberty. Now, although this foul species 
of slanderous persecution is clothed in hypocritical 
Protestantism, is it not the foulest species of un- 
masked popery ever enrolled in the annals of time. 
And can we be blamed for detecting its identity 
with papal despotism 1 And having done so, can 
we be culpable for trying the strength of our unc- 
tions implements, and the power of that machine 
whose thundering echoes reverberates from pole to 
pole, and prostrates the world at its shrine, to strip 
this foul species of popery of its unhallowed garb, 
and check this mighty torrent of unparalleled iniquity. 

But notwithstanding the heavy and cruel punish- 
ment which they have inflicted on me, I cannot see, 
nor feel my guilt or sin, wherefore, I am without 
shame and repentance. 

Therefore, "Nile conscire Sibi, nulla palles cere 
culpa" is happiness of which our miserable ene- 
mies cannot boast. 

In England an ignisfatuus, or a walking fiery va- 
pour, sometimes called a Will-with-a-wist, and 
which is of such a delusive character that it is said 
if any one follows it, will be sure to lead them 
into mirepits or some dangerous place. 

This ignisfatuus reminds us of the advertisement 
before us, which appears to be the offspring of a 
popish harlot, generated not in the fifth, but in the 
eighteenth century, not in the Romish Council of 



200 POPERY STRIPPED 

Trent, but in the popish council of Albany. And 
since it was begotten by divines who were dressed 
in ministerial garb, it is the more especially admired 
on this account, yea, it has so many dazzling at- 
tractions to the common people, that they gird up 
their loins and allow their minds to be biased, and 
pursues the deceptive attractions or directions of 
this priestly begotten and Albany-born monster, 
with such avidity that we are really afraid they will 
be so far led by it into the mire of deception, as to 
be induced to attempt to trample poor J. H. under 
their feet, and suffocate him in the foams of their 
prejudice. 

This advertisement presents to our view a spe- 
cies of naked ecclesiastical tyranny and violent per- 
secution for religious sentiment, lifting its baneful 
head in the United States, which seems to indicate 
that our patriotic forefathers have laboured in vain, 
and spent their martial and gigantic energies for 
naught ; or that there is a need for them to exert 
a resurrection power and appear a second time on 
the stage of action to direct our councils, to govern 
our armies, and defend our liberties. Feeling as 
we do the weight of oppression, the violence of per- 
secution, and the need of their assistance, let us 
hope to be allowed the indulgence for a moment of 
holy enthusiasm, while we sing our poetical muse. 

Come from the tomb, thou father of this land, 

Thou patriot in danger and distress, 
Thou, on whom the nations gaze with rapture, 

Thou Franklin rise while I tell thee my case. 



OF ITS GARB. 201 

Thou imperial Washington come forth, 

Who threw thy sword to make the despots cease, 

Thou who did'st fight in danger and distress 

To save this land, and bless thy sons with peace. 

And thou, immortal Jefferson, who stood 
Foremost among thy country's counsellors, 

To guide the affairs of this fertile land, 
Saved her from ruin and all invaders. 

Americans, in all your greatness rise, 
Complete the work of light and liberty 

Which your heroic fathers did begin, 

And show yourselves opposed to tyranny. 

Shall your blest land of liberty and fame, 
Connive at despotism, though it dress 

In a religious garb which hypocrites 

Have thrown around them to screen their disgrace. 

No, far be that from you, who love your sons, 
Who'd rather they were poor than to be bound 

To foul cruel tyrants, who daily crush 
The innocent beneath a heavy bond. 

O turn your mighty energies, subdue 

These tyrants who now rise up in your land ; 

Save me from the injustice which I feel 
Arising from this irreligious band. 

May heavenly justice quell their fiendish wrath, 
And save the victim of their cruel spite 

From that disgrace and obloquy and scorn 

To which they have designed him without right. 



202 FOPERY STRIPPED 

And thus may charity fill your kind breasts, 
Of Christian charity may you approve, 

And seek for heavenly wisdom from above, 
Esteem your liberties and each other love. 

4. We have here a rancorous slander. 

As an evidence that their foul charge is entirely 
destitute of truth, let any one, or more of our ene- 
mies consent to journey with me and I will lead 
them by the skirts of their garments along every 
road on which I have travelled, over every foot of 
land on which I have trod in this country, whether 
east, west, north, or south. I will lead them to 
every mountain or cottage, and introduce them to 
the presence of all with whom I have conversed, 
transacted business, or had any intercourse with. 
Then they may ask individually, friends or enemies, 
whether " Mr. H." has, or has not " imposed" upon 
them in any shape or manner. And it is our de- 
cided conviction that they would all declare my in- 
nocence. And let. my enemies, my cruel enemies, 
yea, the very worst and the most intolerant of them, 
remember that I challenge them to the test. 

I have conversed with scores of close Baptist breth- 
ren on the subject of close and open communion, when 
I have charged their sentiments with popery; be~ 
cause the pope, with all his adherents, believe in 
close communion ; with bigotry, because their senti- 
ments on that subject has no foundation but in their 
contracted views ; with ignorance, because they are 
unacquainted with the formidable arguments in fa- 
vour of open communion ; (for I am in the habit of 



OF ITS GARB. 203 

delivering my sentiments without the love of smiles, 
or the fear of frowns,) vet I dare venture to believe 
and assert, that there is not one of the people that 
would charge me with " imposition." Wherefore, 
we claim a right to the plea of innocence till they 
have proved our guilt. Although they charge us 
with sin, yet as an evidence that they are aware of 
the impossibility of proving it, they have never tried ; 
and while this developes their knowlege of being 
unable to do so. it shows, at the same time, our in- 
nocence. Therefore, we are right when we say, 
that they are guilty of slandering our character. — 
How indescribably wretched are the inclinations, 
how intolerably base are the principles, and how 
monstrous are the men, who will thus unite phari- 
seeical hypocrisy with the persecuting malice of pa- 
pistical Rome, for the base purpose of injuring an 
individual, against whom they have not proved a sin- 
gle charge. A parallel to their cruel actions towards 
us can only be found in the acts of besotted despo- 
tism, clothed in the garb of infuriated and persecu- 
ting popery. 

As hunting dogs are for the flesh 
Which hangs upon the foxes bones, 

So they would hunt my life to crush, 
Destroy it like so many hounds. 

But O, may heaven relieve me from 
Their iron grasp, and save my life, 

Give me to wing their hotest rage, 
And soar above their demon strife. 



204 POPERY STRIPPED 

Then shall eternal power be praised, 
In anthems formed by my lyre ; 

My harp shall then be taken down 
From Egyptian bows of willow. 

Then T will sing fair Sion's song, 
Though in a foreign land, I'll sing 

Jehovah's praise, I'll loud proclaim 
On every harp, on every string. 

The pleasures of my muse shall rise, 
And fill this throbbing mind with joy, 

My ideality shall swell, 

Its song shall reach above the sky. 

Creation shall resound my praise, 
Kingdoms shall listen to my song, 

Nations shall join the heavenly muse, 
And hero's shall attend the throng. 

My song shall be of liberty, 

My choir shall be patriots, 
Attendants shall be Washington's 

Most noble sons, but no despots 

Shall ever join these ranks of fame, 
No tyrants shall disgrace our band, 

Columbia's sons shall lisp the praise 
Of liberty in every land. 

In order to show more fully that this is a rancor- 
ous slander, let us again look at the import of the 
words they have implied. 






<0T ITS GARB. 205 

"Imposing on our churches," that is, he is an 
*' impostor," cheating and deceiving the people. — 
To impose upon, or defraud, signifies to rob by cun- 
ning, crafty, roguish tricks ; therefore, to call J. H. 
an " impostor" is equivalent to calling him a pick- 
pocket, a thief, a scoundrel, a profligate, profane, 
impious, and a lewd plunderer. 

Hence, we perceive, they not only charge me 
with the most flagrant crimes, but that their charge 
is without evidence, a statement without facts, and 
a punishment inflicted without a proof of guilt. 

None but the basest of men would be guilty of 
laying such a charge against any person, without 
being able to substantiate it. A respect for com- 
mon decency, and the laws of humanity, ought to 
have restrained them from such infamous and mali- 
cious conduct. 

When we first summoned the courage of a jolly 
tar, determined to face the Atlantic storms, and scale 
the mountains of the great gulf, we thought that 
we were going to a land that flowed with the milk 
of political freedom, and the honey of religious lib- 
erty. But if we may be allowed to look exclusively 
at the treatment which we have received from our 
priestly persecutors, we shall find that we had bet- 
ter been found amid the snows of Lapland, or con- 
fined in the camp of Arabs, or among the savages of 
our western forests. 

5. Their publication against us is a wicked policy, 

The term which they have applied, and by which 

they have represented my character to the public, 

is one of the most implacable and rancorous which 

18 



206 POPERY STRIPPED 

was possible for them to select. Had they *ra~ 
versed the mires and sinks through which the mal- 
ice of the church of Rome has flowed to the reform- 
ers ; had they ransacked all languages, and turned 
over every syllable of their vocabularies, whether 
ancient or modern, it would have been impossible 
for them to have selected a more malicious term, or 
one to express themselves in a more inexorable and 
malicious manner. And we are persuaded that a 
correct knowledge of the definition of the term will 
substantiate this assertion ; for they here charge J. 
H. with " impositions," or call him an " impostor," 
which signifies one who cheats, or one who de- 
frauds. To defraud, means to rob by wild and 
roguish tricks. It implies that he is a cheater, or 
that he is in the constant habit of cheating, and 
therefore well practised in villainy. 

To say that he is an " impostor," is an equivalent 
to saying that he is a rascal, a scoundrel, or one 
who is guilty of rapacity and plunder. 

To say that a man " imposes" upon, or that he is 
an " impostor," is identically saying that he is a 
rampant, wanton, malignant, rancorous, random, 
plundering fellow ; or that he is a ravaging, defrau- 
ding, and defiling villain ; or one who is a rantipole- 
ing, rakish, and wretched rogue ; or one who is the 
very essence of rascality. 

It brings to our minds one who has gone to the 
very heights and depths of degeneracy and pollution. 
And what is all this for ? O, why because they 
have not the magnanimity of mind to attack our 



OF ITS GARB. 207 

open and liberal sentiments in a Christian manner, 
and because their minds are sufficiently base to act 
on the same principle as the papists, who present 
the rod of derision, and threaten with tortures those 
whom they do not know how to convince ; or, be- 
cause they are afraid that we shall set their pew- 
holders and subscribers talking about "open com- 
munion till their priestly craft is endangered. 
The constupration of their design, the term they 
have selected, to represent my character to the 
public. 

The vernility of their conduct. The audacity of 
their attempt* The avidity of their chase. The 
infelicity of their schemes, and the insatiableness 
of their desires, develope in an undescribable 
man.ier their unparalleled malice, their fallacious 
deportment, and the parturition of their popish 
plots. 

They have thus pursued us undoubtedly with a 
design to extirpate the doctrines of open commu- 
nion from the land ; but so long as we believe as 
we do, they might as well attempt to overturn the 
Andes, or crush the sun into annihilation. 

Let these petty popes send forth their violent op- 
position ; let their bulls of excommunication be 
issued. 

Let the deafening thunders of the Vatican roll 
over our heads, yet we will never give up our sen- 
timents till we have received stronger evidences of 
their unsoundness than those which our malignant 
persecutors afford. 



208 POPERY STRIPPED 

We have been informed that these associated' 
and rigid hierarchs make it a regular practice to 
publish something of this kind in their minutes — 
N. B. So it is for the pope to publish his edicts or 
bulls, — and the approximation of the one to the- 
other is apprehensible to every intelligent mind. 

And the reason why they do so is most evidently 
to deter the people from receiving any minister be^ 
side themselves,, and if this is not the horns of the 
beast, it is an awful perversion of principle clothed 
in popish garb. 

We confess that when we first came to this coun- 
try we did not alienate our conscience to them, nor 
abdicate the government of our ways to their su- 
premacy ; therefore there can be no doubt but that 
their mightiness- was- galled' and their imaginary 
importance fomented into hatred and fiery indigna- 
tion. Their malice is increasing against us in every 
direction ; their newspapers are set in battle array 
against us, the pamphlets published by their Trent- 
ish councils are made the vehicles, of malicious; 
slander, which they deal out against vis in the plen- 
itude of their unparalleled rage and popish cruelty. 
With such full evidence of their martial inflexibili- 
ty to trample on those legitimate rights which no 
independent spirit can relinquish, we feel ourselves 
bound in duty to put ourselves in armour and atti- 
tude corresponding if possible with their formidable 
array against us. 

Their associating together against us reminds us 
of the wicked association that was formed, against 



OF ITS GARB. 209 

Christ. And a very little- alteration of the language 
used by Matthew to describe the one.- will show the 
identity of the other. 

" Then assembled together the chief priests and 
scribe?, and the elders of the people, unto the place 
of the high priests which is called" Albany \ and 
consulted how they might take Horner by subtilty, 
bui they said, let us use a little subtle policy lest 
there be an uproar among the people. Matt. xxvi. 
3—5. 

Having been determined to carry their infernal 
plans into execution,, they have not been content to 
crucify or exhibit his character among thieves and 
robbers, but they have zealously sought to extin- 
guish the same and bury it beneath their carnal and 
earthly clods where they not only suppose but act 
as though thev were determined that it shall sink 
to corruption, For thev have rolled to the mouth 
of the tomb a stone which they have invented for 
that purpose, which is a composition of carnality 
and malice, cemented together by priestcraft, and 
which is made to bear hard upon us by soldiers, 
servants, or tools, employed for that purpose. Matt. 
xxviii. When we have been animadverting on the 
persecuting spirit of our opponents, we confess that 
we have often manifested warm feelings,, as well as 
a share of perception when we have as frequently 
been reminded of the mildness of the Americans. 
But in a number of cases in which the Americans 
have been oppressed, we see no more mildness in 
them than in other people. For instance, when 
they were trampled upon more than they liked by 
18* 






210 POPERY STRIPPED 

the British tyrants who applied to the veterans of 
seventy-six the appellation of rebel, (which is some- 
thing like the rigidists applying to me the term 
"impostor") did not our patriotic fathers glory in the 
appellation ? did not their blood run chill within 
their veins ? did not they assume a lion-like cour- 
age, wielded their stately sword by which they 
made thousands of widows and fatherless- children, 
and caused the earth to blush with human blood. 

Had our inhuman enemies been disposed to mild- 
ness as they hypocritically pretend, ihen they would 
have been more deliberate in pouring out their tor- 
rents of rage upon us. Then they would not have 
been so impudent as to apply to a believer in Christ, 
that foul, black, and bitter term. Then would they 
have searched their vocabularies for a milder term, 
than that by which they have vented their infuriated 
spite. But Pharisee-like, they can talk belter than 
practice. Wherefore we shall find that their hypo- 
critical doings are " tenum imbelle sine ictus. 

6. A carnal nationality is perceivable in this 
advertisement. 

They have been remarkably careful to notify 
that Mr. H. is ^ recently f rum 'England" undoubt- 
edly with a design to impress on the minds of the 
people the idea that most of the Baptist min- 
isters who come from the old country, are very 
much to be suspected and dreaded, for such is the 
nature of their conduct towards many of them who 
came from thence, that we are persuaded that were 
it not for a few who are from the old country, and 
who are men of talent, character, and standing, that 



OF ITS GARB. 211 

our inveterate enemies would come openly out 
against them. We are also convinced that we shall 
be able to establish the truth of this observation 
before we have done with our arrant enemies. 

Their violent persecutions towards us. Their 
unrighteous transactions with the Rev. Mitchell. 
Their slanderous manner of advertising the Rev. G. 
and others, all prove to a demonstration that our 
corrupted enemies are influenced by a carnal 
nationality — nationality did we say, we must recall 
those words. For why should we suppose that they 
would despise a man merely because he came from 
England, the fame of which is established above 
all the countries of the earth — for her glory has 
reached the very heavens, and deluged the world, 
because by her wisdom she is wealth} 7 , by her 
wealth she is mighty, and by her heroic courage, 
she has become mistress of the nations of the earth. 
She is in fact a " decent abode of comfort, of clean- 
liness and decorum !" a " blessed asylum of all that 
is worth having upon eaith," a "sanctuary of reli- 
gion, and of liberty for the whole civilized world !'' 
It is only in viewing the state of other countries, 
that her '" advantages can be duly estimated," a 
81 land of happy firesides and cleanly hearths, and 
domestic peace, of filial piety, of parental love and 
connubial joys ; the cradle of heroes, the school of 
sages — the temple of the law — the altar of faith — 
the asylum of innocence — the bulwark of private 
security and of public honour. 



212 POPERY STRIPPED 

Where'er my feet are led, 
Whatever land to see, 
Pts not the glory of the world, 
Can take my heart from thee. 

The fostering care at home, 
The parental caress, 
My moiher's chastest love r 
And honey of her breast, 

Constrains my heart to love, 
The land of former days, 
And makes me think of alt 
My infant joys- and plays. 

Britannia's sons are fam'd. 
For wisdom, truth and love ;; 
Philosophy and arts,. 
They surely do approve.. 

Her heroes are so bold', 
Her poets are so great, 
Her merchant's are so wise, 
And governors complete-— 

That she has rose above 1 
The nations of the earth, 
And bids them all obey 
Whatever now she saittu 

Her commentators are 
The best in all the world,- 
Her sages and divines 
The Scriptures do unfold,- 



OF ITS GARS. 213 

Until the dawning day 
Of reformation light, 
Is springing from beneath 
Popish and Pagan night. 

Till the poor sable sons 
Of Africa are blest 
With its refulgent rays 
And made to feel its grace— s 

Nay, more than this is true, 
All nations of the earth 
Are bless'd with British light, 
And witness to her faith. 

Then why despise a man, 
Beeause he is by birth 
A son of British sons, 
And glories in their faith. 

Let not the rigid sticklers, 
For country or for birth, 
Despise a man, merely because 
Of colour, nor his faith, 

When it is remembered that the English are as 
respectable inhabitants as anv in the world, their 
ministers as pious and as well educated, how can 
we suppose that our enemies would despise a man 
merely because he came from England, which is 
as honourable a country as any on the face of the 
earth. But although they may not despise him 
because he comes from England, yet they may, 
and they evidently do, when he is, 1st. from Eng- 



214 POPERY STRIPPED 

land. 2d. A Baptist minister, and 3d. when they 
suppose that he comes to this country to participate 
in their immunities. Therefore they fear that 
their craft is endangered by the emigration of our 
ministerial countrymen. 

It is a happy circumstance if the laws 
of this country recognize no distinction between 
a minister who is a foreigner, and one who is 
a native. Though it may not be very agreeable 
to the latter, nor can we wonder at this when we 
remember 1 . That human nature is what it is, and 2, 
that many of the close Baptist ministers who are na- 
tives have to step aside from their situations, to 
make way for one who is from England. 

Although it is most evident that our selfish ene- 
mies have no great liking to our ministerial brethren 
from the old country, yet we will not allow ourselves 
to suppose that they possess such callous hearts, 
and contracted minds, to hold me up to ridicule — 
merely because I happen to be born in a distant 
spot of this little planet. If so, tell us, ye sticklers 
for country, what signifies it whether we first drew 
breath in the torrid or in frigid zone — is it just to 
loathe the African because his skin differs from ours, 
dare you allow the English to despise the Ameri- 
cans, because they, by living under a scorching sun, 
happen to carry a darker complexion — may the 
newly wedded mistress who carries on her cheeks 
a pair of roses more ruddy than those of spring, in 
whose eyes sets playful the gayety, and the attract- 
ions of her virginity despise her bridegroom, because 
his skin is not the same colour, or because he does 



OF ITS GARB. 21-5 

not possess those exquisite charms and marks of 
beauty which are peculiar to her sect. 

Is the European to be contemned., because, trust- 
ing to the assurance held out to him by the laws of 
•this republic, he comes here to gain that living 
which his father's land, (through a past misgovern- 
ment,) no longer affords, and with the full' assurance 
ihat he would be protected in person and property 1 
With this impression, he left his father's hearth — 
the spot endeared to him by every tie — tore him- 
self from all, to seek a place in a distant land; and 
while he supports the government thereof, and is 
amenable to its laws, is it right that he should be 
despised or lifted up to ridicule ? Although these 
distinctions may influence the minds of the carnal 
and inconsiderate, yet it is very evident, that they 
ought not to govern those who profess to be guided 
by Christian principles ; because those principles 
recognize all the nations of the earth, as being of one 
family, and makes no distinction between Jews 
and Gentiles, bond or free, Englishmen or Ameri- 
cans. 

Then let these principles control 
Our actions, ways, and thoughts, 
And may we never seek to hurt 
The English nor the Turks. 

But let us all, be all as one, 
And seek each others good, 
And love our neighbour as ourselves, 
For he is form'd by God. 



210 POPERY STRIPPED 

Americans, your slumbers shake 
From all your drowsy souls ; 
Unsheath your swords, present your arms, 
Against these Popish tools. 

Let not this land of liberty, 
Whose praises fill the earth, 
Submit to despots, nor their wills, 
But crush them in their birth. 

Your praises reach above the sky, 
For love of liberty ; 
They shall be handed down to the 
Latest posterity. 

Be zealous, then, and hand your rights 
To your dear unborn sons, 
That they may tune upon their harps, 
Your patriotic songs. 

Then they will surely crown your heads, 
And laurel all your brows ; 
They'll talk of all your noble deeds, 
And patriotic laws. 

The willows shall not bear their harps, 
Nor tyrants check their song ; 
Their anthems shall transcend all praise, 
Handed from son to son. 

Be zealous, then, maintain your rights, 
Equip yourselves like men ; 
Help us to check these tyrants, and 
Expose this Popish scene. 



OP ITS GARB. 217 

Until the dawn of day disperse* 
The tyrants of the times, 
Then we'll sing, our heavenly muse, 
In patriotic lines. 

The English flock into this city, by hundreds and 
thousands ; and to see the zeal which our crafty and 
priestly enemies manifest, in scraping acquaintance 
with and introducing those emigrants into their 
congregations and churches, especially if they are 
likely to set up in a respectable way of trade, rent 
pews in their meeting houses, and contribute to 
their support, is a little laughable, particularly so 
while we see them so prejudiced against (not the 
Presbyterian and Methodist,) but the Baptist mi- 
nisters, who they suppose will interfere with 
their interest and share their emoluments. It is 
true, that there are a few cases in whieh the rigid 
Baptist preachers have received our ministerial 
countrymen. But they have been cases in which 
circumstances have combined to almost necessitate 
them to do so, or cases in which our unfortunate 
countrymen have prostrated themselves at their feet, 
intimated their entire dependance upon, and willing- 
ness to subject themselves to, the dictations of our 
implacable enemies. Fortunately we are not of 
that stamp. We are stiffly built, and cannot bend 
so easily; we were never stage actors, and do 
not know how to humble and turn any way for the 
sake of gain. Therefore we must make up our 
mind to bare the weight and wrath of our inveterate* 
enemies. We think ourselves immeasurably hap- 
19 



218 POPERY STRIPPED 

py that God, in this case, has fitted the back for the 
burden, and affords us grace according to our day. 

7. Their false, iniquitous, and slanderous pub- 
lication against us, is a violation of all laws. 

For we have here, 

1. A violation of the laws of humanity : in it 
there is a wilful and a malicious attempt to take 
away from us the means of subsistence, and to 
place us in a state of starvation. It is designed to 
prejudice and sour the minds of the Baptist church- 
es against us, and so to induce them not only to 
turn a deaf ear to our arguments in support of open 
communion, but to induce them to treat us with 
hatred, scorn, and derision. Nay, more, it is in- 
tended as a loud call, not only to every denomina- 
tion of Christians, but to the world at large, to view 
us as " imposing," cheating, and defrauding men- 
dicants ; consequently, it is designed, not only to 
prevent any church or society engaging us as their 
ministers, but even to prevent us from entering into 
any occupation by which we might earn our bread. 
For if we are " imposters" as they would have the 
people believe, then, of course, no man will have 
any dealings or intercourse with us, neither in a 
ministerial, mechanical, nor mercantile capacity. 
If we are the monstrous villains they represent us 
to be, and if the public should believe their mali- 
cious and groundless insinuations, then we shall 
for ever be cut off from all respectable society, and 
ranked among convicted thieves of the most aban- 
doned character. Wherefore, is not their attro- 
cious conduct the foulest species of ecclesiastical 



OF ITS GARB. 219 

persecution, and ungarbed popery, ever described 
in the annals of despotism ? Although their wrath- 
ful malice, and wreakful inhumanity, cannot be de- 
scribed by the pen of the eloquent, nor the power of 
the orator, yet they have in this case considerably 
developed the wickedness of their minds, their aw- 
ful principles, and the frightful predominancy of 
their animal faculties. All this will appear evident 
to every virtuous mind, or all who remember that 
we have shown, in a manner not to be contradicted, 
that their charges against us are groundless ; there- 
fore, it must appear evident to every impartial 
mind, that their conduct towards us, is an awful 
outrage on, and a palpable violation of, the laws of 
humanity. 

If they had been in possession of a spark of hu- 
manity, they would have treated a stranger {against 
whom they prove no charge or guilt) with mercy 
and charily, which hopeth all things for the best, 
instead of pouring upon him their hottest rage and 
fiery indignation ; yea, they would have made them- 
selves better acquainted with us before they per- 
petrated the awful deed. They would also, have 
given evidences to the public of their charge against 
us. But behold, this they have not done. This they 
could not do. No, nor they never ivill. Because, 
to do so, is beyond the strength of their arm, the 
reach of their iron grasp, and the power of their 
wishful and malicious desires. For them to have 
waited till they had an opportunity of accompany- 
ing their frightful charges against us with evidences, 
would not have answered their infernal purposes. 



220 POPERY STRIPPED 

For, however anti-scriptural their conduct may be, 
they must look after their own craft, by gratifying 
their carnality in hunting for our destruction, and the 
extirpation of our reformed and liberal sentiments 
from this city and country. 

How wretched are the characters 
Who would without a righteous cause, 
Serve a poor dog, one half so bad, 
For all is true that we have said. 

And that it is, no one denies, 
Nor never will in future days ; 
For notwithstanding their desire, 
All this is quite beyond their power. 

Unrighteous men, what wicked soul 
Could charge with guilt and crimes so foul, 
The man,, whose guilt they cannot prove, 
This cannot be a Christian love. 

2. Their advertisement is a violation of the laws: 
of the United States. 

For it is an injury of a more extensive nature than 
slander by words. Since it is a printed, and a ma- 
licious defamation, tending to injure our reputation^ 
render us ridiculous, and exposes us to public ha- 
tred and contempc, and prevents mankind from asso- 
ciating with us. For it is an equivalent to calling 
me a cheat — a swindler — a fraudulent fellow — a 
pick-pocket — a pest to society— a scum to the 
earth. This, in our opinion, is the plain, obvious, 
and natural construction of the word they have em- 
ployed, therefore, there can be no doubt but that 



OF ITS GARB. 221 

their conduct toward us is actionable. To this ef- 
fect we have got the opinion of one of the best and 
most popular judges in the United States. There 
can be no doubt but that if we were to bring the 
case into court they would endeavour to put some 
evasive construction on the words they have em- 
ployed, but to allow it, would be to bring the utmost 
contempt on the law. 

Now can it be possible that the American con- 
stitution will allow its subjects to be trampled upon, 
degraded, and defamed in this manner ? What can 
the enlightened, the patriotic, the humane Ameri- 
cans, whose boast is liberty, whose glory is free- 
dom, and whose motto is universal and equal rights, 
can these see their fellow subjects and citizens run 
down by an awful species of despotism, trampled 
upon by tyranny, and crushed into annihilation by 
priestcraft, and yet look upon him with complacency, 
No, far be that from those who for the sake of ob- 
taining political and religious freedom for their sons 
and fellow-citizens, have waged war with the great- 
est power in Europe, volunteered to act in the field, 
where they have developed mightier energies than 
those which were seen at the field of Waterloo, 
Therefore, may we not suppose it to be impossible 
that they in this short time, can have become indif- 
ferent to the working of iniquity, the usurpations of 
despotism and the growing up of threatening tyrants, 
it must be morally impossible that they can have 
become so degenerated as to be supine and indif- 
ferent while they see their fellow-citizens run upon, 
driven and cruelly treated by these priestly usurp* 
* 19 



222 POPERY STRJFPED 

ers, these petty popes, and religions, or rather irre- 
ligious tyrants. If we thought they were, we would 
call upon them in the name of their heroic forefa- 
thers, the liberties and privileges they enjoy, and in 
the name of all that is dear and sacred to arise from 
their indifference, and assume the dignity of their 
former character, to assist us to quell the usurpa- 
tions of despotism, the wicked designs of tyranny, 
and to strip this species of popery of its garb, and 
this work of iniquity. 

3. Their advertisement is a violation oftJw laivs 
of God. 

For in those laws it is written, " Thou shalt not 
bear false witness against thy neighbour" Exod. xx. 
16. But the witness of which they have been the 
bearers against us, is as false as that which the 
malicious Jews bore against Christ. 

" Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy 
neighbours" 

But they have "coveted" and endeavoured to 
steal our name from the honourable pages on which 
it is pressed. 

They have " coveted" and sought to rob our char- 
acter and cast it to the prejudices of the public. 
" Let love be ivithout dissimulation" but they have 
manifested all the malice and hatred towards us, of 
which the most ungodly wretches were capable. 
u Abhor that which is evil" but they have run 
greedily to the worst of all sins — namely to the vio- 
lence of persecution, because of difference in senti- 
ment. " Be kindly affectionate one towards another 
with brotherly love, in honour 'preferring one ano- 



OF ITS GARB.. 223 

ther," but according to their representations, Ban-ab- 
as and the worst of convicted thieves are to be prefer- 
red before us. " If it be possible, as much as lieth in 
you live peaceably with all men" but they have 
given the greatest cause of offence that was possible 
for their wicked minds to invent, and " woe unto 
them by whom this offence cometh" Horn-. 12. 

"Follow after charity" but if they have any 
charity " it profiteth" them " nothing," it is not 
" kind," it envieth " much," it vaunteth " itself," it is 
" puffed up," it " behaveth itself unseemly, seeketh 
her own," it is " easily provoked," "thinketh all evil," 
it " rejoiceth in iniquity," but not in the " truth." 
" And now abideth faith, hope, charity r these three ; 
but the greatest of these is charity" but while their 
unsanetified charity faileth, their faith and hope 
abideth, that we shall one day be taken " by the hand 
of Saul" or that we by their unhallowed influence 
shall be brought to a slate of starvation, or that we 
shall be prevented from the exercise of our spiritual 
functions. " Brethren, if any of you be overtaken 
in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an 
one in the spirit of meekness." 

They know that we are believers in open com- 
munion, they consequently acknowledge that we 
are overtaken in a fault— but they have been so 
far from endeavouring to restore us " in the spirit of 
meekness," as to treat us with all the ferocity of 
untamed lions. " Bear one another's burdens and 
so fulfil the law of Christ," but they have attempted 
to lay a burden on us, which they themselves were 
not able to bear, and so broken the " law of Christ " 



224 POPERY STRIPPED 

" But fornication, let it not be once named among 
you, as it becometh saints," but they have commit- 
ted fornication with the mother of harlots, by uniting 
with her to carry on a religious persecution. " Let 
nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but 
in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better 
than themselves ;" but by their newspapers, pam- 
phlets, and presses, they have strove to put us down 
and gloried in their imaginary power to do so. 
" Against an elder, receive not an accusation but 
before two or three witnessses," but they have ac- 
cused us without a single witness, for they have 
never shown a single soul that they are in posses- 
sion of anus probandi. " Speak not evil one of 
another," but they have ransacked their voca- 
bularies to select one of the most slanderous and 
foulest terms, and applied it to us. They have 
spoke so much evil of us, that in one neighbourhood 
they have got a current report that we are Socinians, 
in another that we are liars, and in another that we 
are " impostors !" And thus, their desires are so 
malicious that they seem to hazard all the conse- 
quences of violating the laws of God, of man, and 
humanity, for the sake of doing us an injury; on 
this point they seem determined to give no sleep to 
their eyes, nor slumber to their eyelids till they 
have an opportunity of glorying in our destruction. 
For the accomplishment of this object, they mani- 
fest unparalleled zeal, by which they foam out their 
own shame ; and thus they labour indefatigably in 
the circumfusion of their own ungracious, yet legiti- 
mate invectives, slanderous vituperations, and pro- 



OF ITS GARB. 225 

tracted anathemas. So it may be hoped that their 
malice will soon be exhausted. And all this they do, 
little thinking that God will cause the carnivorous ra- 
ven to feed a fainting and needy Abijah. Forge ting 
that he who leadeth into captivity, shall go into cap- 
tivity. That he who killeth with the sword, shall 
perish by. the sword. 

But while, they are demoniacally impanoplied, 
may it be our concern to be shod with the prepara- 
tions of the Gospel, having on our breast the shield 
of faith, and for an helmet the hope of salvation ; 
then shall we be able to bear the clamours of a ra- 
ging mob, and the threats of desperate tyrants. 
Then will we not fear what man can say or do unto 
us, so long as the Lord is on our side. 



OF ITS GARB. 227 



CHAPTER VI. 

Contains a statement op facts and circumstances, all 
evincing the malignity which a number of the rigid papistical 
hierarchs have toward open communion and liberal senti- 
MENTS. 

" Principiis obsta pro arts etfocis^ 

It seems that the different councils of our rigor- 
ous enemies and ecclesiastical tyrants, continue to 
carry on their awful plots and desperate deeds of 
persecution, -with unparalleled zeal, and a popish 
universality. For we have already followed these 
bands of slanderers and persecuting associations from 
New- York to Warwick, from thence to Albany. 
And now, however unwilling, we are irresistibly 
called upon to confront what they immethodically call 
the (union,) but which might, with propriety, be 
called the disunited and persecuting Association. 
For they are scarcely united in any thing but in 
following us with their malice and fiery indignation ; 
on this point, all their contradictions are amalgama- 
ted ; on this one subject they have concentrated their 
energies to carry on their deeds of despotism and 
malicious persecutions. 

This council was so much at a loss to allege any 
thing against my moral character, that notwithstand- 
ing the utter abhorrence, the resentful hatred, th* 
infuriated bigotry, that they have toward it, and thei* 



228 POPERY STRIPPED 

itching desires to blacken my name, they could not 
do more than make a selection from the revengeful 
production of the Hudson River Association. 

Therefore, as we have already met the black cal- 
umnies of that wicked council, exposed the refuge of 
lies to which they have resorted, and convicted them 
of violating all laws; we beg leave to refer the rea- 
der to chap. 5. page 1 71. But, although we do this 
for the sake of saving time and labour, yet, justice 
and duty to our fellow-men and to God, calls loudly 
upon us to notice some of the leading characters who 
formed this wicked council. We do so, the more 
cheerfully, because we know that an exposure of 
their conduct will not only make out our innocence, 
but fix a blush on their cheeks which can only be 
washed out by tears and heart-rending repentance. 

The first of these characters who we shall notice, 
is Mr. N. Sherwood, (they call him Elder Sher- 
wood,) but by the by, he appears young in years, 
and young in knowledge. We understood that he 
was one of the committee which was chosen -by 
this Association, and which agreed to do their best 
to kill my character by representing me as an " im- 
postorous" villain all over the United States, yea, 
and the world at large. 

Therefore, I made a purposed journey to his house, 
and addressed him as follows. 

Mr. Sherwood, sir, my name is Horner, I have 
called upon you to ask the following questions. 

1. Were you not one of the committee elected 
by what is called the Union Association, and which 
agreed to represent me as an " impostor ?" 



OF ITS GARB, 229 

He answered, " Yes I was." 

Can you tell me why you did so ? He said, that 
what was stated there was copied from some other 
minutes, I suppose. 

I asked him again, have you any evidence of the 
truth of the monstrous and frightful crime with 
which you charge me in that pamphlet ? N. B. Here 
he paused, hanging down his head, and appeared 
motionless, or like some one thunderstruck, and 
never attempted to assign a reason for the violence 
of his conduct. If I do not here state a fact, I call 
on him to counteract this statement. 

Thus we have confronted another of our atro- 
cious, but impotent enemies, who, though he, Sab- 
bath after Sabbath, ascends the sacred desk, and 
inculcates the following sentiments : " Do no vio- 
lence" — " Do unto others as ye would they should 
do unto you." Consequently, we perceive that not- 
withstanding the impotency of his mind, he can re- 
commend better morals than he is willing to reduce 
to practice. Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, he 
can resemble the innocency of the lamb, while with- 
in he is full of all uucleanness. He can talk as in- 
nocent and as pitiful as a long-faced Pharisee, while 
his pleasure is manifested in perpetrating the aw- 
ful deed of slandering a character against which 
he proves nothing. But as we are persuaded that 
if the reader were acquainted with Mr. S. that he 
would chide us for noticing such an insignificant 
character, we shall pass him by in haste, and at- 
tend to another of our opponents, namely, the Rev. 
Ambler, who was supplying the first Baptist Church 
" 20 



230 POPERY STRIPPED 

in Danbury, we believe, on the 24th of March, 
1833. Having received information previously, I 
took the opportunity of going to hear him, and when 
he had closed the service, I met him at the bottom 
of the pulpit stairs, and in an audable tone, gave 
him my name, and proposed to him the following 
questions : 

1. Where you not one of that committee which 
was chosen by what is called the Union Associa- 
tion, and which agreed to represent me as an " im- 
postorous" villain to the world at large ? 

2. Are you able to produce the evidences of that 
nefarious charge before this assembly ? 

When he had answered these questions in the 
affirmative, I then proposed to him another, namely : 

Suppose that I had circulated a report that you had 
robbed my house the other night ; nay, more, sup- 
pose that I had made a statement to that effect in the 
public prints of this neighbourhood ; that being done, 
you came to me to ask for evidences of that charge, 
but if I had none to give, what would you think of 
such iniquitous conduct ? To this he gave no an- 
swer of any description, but appeared to be struck 
with silence, while his eyes were fixed on the end 
of his toes. Joy and gladness evidently sat on the 
faces of the people, for this evidence of my justifi- 
cation. After a pause, I turned round and address- 
ed the people as follows : 

My friends, you have now before you the accus- 
er and the accused. Here is Mr. Ambler, who was 
one of that committee which fraudulently agreed to 
publish and represent me as an " imposto7*ous" vil- 



OP ITS GARB. 231 

lain, by means of the public prints. And yet when 
he, who was one of the principal of that band, is 
brought before my face, he tells me, in the pre- 
sence of you all, that he has no evidence of the truth 
of that deflowering and most disgraceful charge. 
I have repeatedly told you before, that they had 
done so, not because they could prove any immo- 
rality against my character, but because I differed 
from them on the subject of open communion. 
Now, have you not received still stronger evidences 
of the truth of that statement, by the confession of 
one of my most prominent enemies, who is now be- 
fore you ? But is it possible to believe that any 
man or set of men would agree to transact such a 
black deed ? Yes, my friends, you have before 
you the evidence of the fact, that he who has this 
day ascended that sacred desk and made preten- 
sions to the office of a minister of Jesus Christ, has 
by his conduct identified himself with many who 
have collusively and barbarously perpetrated that 
deed which would put infidels to the blush, and 
make the basest of men to hide their heads. Hea- 
ven save us ! what awful days of hypocrisy and 
persecution we live in. 

Here, Mr. A. went out of the meeting house, 
in the most chagrined state and condition, while 
the eyes of the people where fixed upon him, 
which indicated their pity for his miserable conduct. 

The acts of these slanderers may now be seen, 
Who have done the black deed by which I have been 



232 POPERY STRIPPED 

Transported to regions of pain and disgracey 
And that without a just or a righteous cause. 

Then may justice assume her right, and demand 
An account of the deed at their cruel hands ; 
O, may heaven defend those who are oppressed,. 
And save me, O, save me, from their iron, grasp. 

Another of the committee to whom we shall now 
pay some attention, is the Rev. Warren, to whom* 
we directed a letter, inquiring of him the nature of 
my guilt,, and the evidences of it ; in answer to those 
inquiries, he directed the following lines to us, which 
we might correct for printing, but we have no au- 
thority to do so ; therefore, we shall give it in- its 
immethodical and native style. 

Mr. Warren's letter, dated Patterson, February 
2d, 1833 : 

Rev.J.M. Horner, Pitt Street, No. 107,, 
New York. 
Sir — A few days since, a short letter came to 
hand, inquiring, addressed to me, wishing me to 
point out the reason or crimes for which you have 
been noted in the minutes of the Union Association. 
You will see the note was taken from the minutes 
of the Hudson River minutes \ by inquiring of the 
members of that body, you may ascertain, as our 
note was taken from theirs. Who gave you your 
information, I know not ; he little understood him- 
self, or the correspondence of Associations, or he 



OF ITS GARB. 233 

might gave you directions to find where the suspi- 
cion first began. Yours, &c. 

J. Warren. 

The following was written in answer to the above : 
Rev. J. Warren, Patterson. 

Sir — I received yours, dated February 2, 1833, 
in which I detect an amount of falsehood ; for you 
have said, " by inquiring of the members of that 
body, you may ascertain where the suspicion first 
began." This is equivalent to saying that if I inquired 
of the members of the Hudson River Association, I 
should ascertain why they represented me as an 
" impostor." This is an untrue assertion, and as 
false a statement as was possible for any one to 
make. I have travelled east, west, north, and south 
for the purpose of calling on the members of the 
said body, but all my journeying and expense hae 
been in vain. I have also directed letters of inquiry 
to the principal persons among them. I have again 
and again repeated my letters of inquiry on this sub- 
ject, but all has been in vain. Those on whom I 
have called in person, have only expressed their 
astonishment that I should question the doings of 
that priestly, and what they have called a respecta- 
ble body of men, While those to whom I have ap- 
plied by letter, have kept their reasons for their ini- 
quitous work in darkness — attempted to hide their 
persecuting spirit in silence, and thus screen them- 
selves in the curtains of their own shame. None 
of them have answered my inquiries ; neither have 
any of them, besides yourself, attempted to do so. 
20* 



234 POPERY STRIPPED 

But here I must correct myself, because your letter 
is so far from being an answer to my inquiries, that 
it does not deserve to be called an attempt to answer 
them. I asked you to point out the nature of my 
crime, but you have not done so ; I asked you to 
produce the evidences of my guilt, but you have 
failed to do so ; and when I consider that you are 
one of my principal enemies ; (or at least, so far the 
principal) that you was one among the three who 
constituted a committee, which agreed to represent 
me as an " impostor" to the world at large ; and 
when it is considered that it is impossible for even 
you to prove any thing against my moral character, 
what must I think ? and what must every rational 
man think ? and what is still more important, what 
must God think of your iniquity, or iniquitous con- 
duct ? 

It is true, as it seems by your letter, you endea- 
vour to find a cloak for your sin by laying it to others^ 
but I think it my duty on this occasion, to say to 
you, as Nathan said to David — " thou art the man." 
I have shown your letter to several intelligent men, 
who agree with me in thinking that the purport of 
it goes to show, that you not only come under the 
character which the Scriptures denominate — a tale 
bearer — but that you suffered yourself to be duped, 
and made a tool of by others. 

A tale bearer, because you have given your un- 
merited influence to circulate a tale, the truth of 
which, you had not the slightest evidence ; which, 
if false, makes you out to be the perpetrator of one 



OF ITS GARB. 235 

of the foulest crimes to which a man could possibly- 
set his hand ; and which, if true, could do no good 
to Christianity. 

Whatever may be the reason for this working of 
iniquity, and this combined assault against a solitary 
individual who is a stranger in a strange land, and 
who never injured the hair of your head, is best 
known to yourselves and your God. But I strangely 
suspect that it is not merely because I have a dif- 
ferent creed to that of yours, but that it is the work- 
ing of the old leaven which frequently works in the 
conduct of the Baptist ministers of this country 
against the emigration of my countrymen, not 
merely because they are my countrymen, but be- 
cause they are viewed as rivals or competitors of 
their emolumentum. 

Although this working of iniquity may be carried 
with a high hand by a priestly jealousy against my 
ministerial brethren and fellow countrymen, yet I 
find that in every direction of this country the peo- 
ple receive them with open aims, not only because 
of the uprightness of their characters, but their 
qualifications to teach them. 

Since I enjoy these impressions you are at liberty 
to do your best, for I am able to bear more than 
you have laid upon me, for I scorn to be afraid at 
the barking of little dogs. 

I am, sir, your persecuted, 

but faithful servant, 

J. M. Horner.. 

Since Mr. W. is one of the principal of the Union 



236 POPERY STRIPPED 

Association, we might with justice, animadvert at 
length on his conduct. But we forbear, because 
we have called on him since the above was wrote ; 
when he appeared not only considerably ashamed 
of the job, but his conversation and manners plainly 
indicated that he was most heartily sorry that he 
had been led by others into the committal of the 
atrocious act. This evidence of his repentance 
would have prevented the printing of his note and 
my answer to it, provided we were not strongly per- 
suaded that the cause of God, our own character, 
and the public at large, demanded its publication.. 

The next of our enemies to whom we intend to 
pay peculiar attention is the Rev. Larcombe, who 
is one of the most implacable, arrant, and malicious 
of all the whole band of our outrageous persecutors. 

When on my way from New York to supply the 
first Baptist church in Danbury, I was over-persua- 
ded to call on Mr. L.; the more easily so, because 
he resided in the same neighbourhood in which I was 
going to officiate. When 1 called at his house, we 
got into a polemic discourse on the subject of open 
communion, when he became remarkably irritable 
and nervous, so much so that a stranger might have 
supposed that he was struck with the palsy. I en- 
deavoured to account for his distemper from the fol- 
lowing considerations : 

1. He drinks a deal of tea. 

2. He confines himself in the house, takes but 
little exercise, and gives himself up to dronish habits., 

3. He was convinced that he had the worst of the 
argument. 



OF ITS GARB. 237 

When all these things meet in one man they to- 
tally unfit him for controversy ; for he is neither able 
to collect his thoughts, nor to attend to the point in 
hand ; and when a man is in such a state he only 
displays his weakness when he continues to contro- 
vert. 

That controversy was conducted in my customary 
manner: namely, by asking a number of questions. 

At one time, he would despise me for asking a 
question which appeared to him to be foreign from 
the point in hand. At another time he appeared to 
knash upon me with his teeth, because he perceived 
the dilemma in which those questions had impercept- 
ibly led him. In fact, his rancorous malice was so 
kindled against me, that he ( having no other way to 
vent his wrath) drew up the following lying slander^ 
and sent it to be published in the Christian Se- 
cretary, (mark you,) a sectarian paper ; for no 
other would admit of it without evidence of its vera- 
city. 

" J. Horner is now in this vicinity, and has given 
indubitable evidence to me, of an entire disregard 
for truth. He appears to be shaping his course to 
visit the churches in this State, they are therefore 
cautioned against him."* 

Thomas Larcombe, 

When I heard of the slanderous tales and false 
reports which Mr. L. had circulated! I a feeling de- 
sirous to obtain the approbation of my conscience, 

* Christian Secretary, January 19, 1833, 



238 POPERY STRIPPED 

and of my God, acted on the following Scriptural 
plans : 

1. I called three times at his house without being 
able to see him. And, behold, the first time that I 
called, his dear wife informed me that he was in the 
cellar, and therefore could not see me. 

On receiving this information, my mind was in- 
stantly struck with the thought, that if he judged 
me to be such an important character as to lay him 
under the necessity of publishing my name over 
the United States, he ought to have left his little 
dirty, dark, low, and of course unimportant job, to 
converse with me on this momentous subject ; espe- 
cially so, since for the sake of having an amicable 
discussiun with him on this point, I had accom- 
plished a long, wet,, cold, tedious, and expensive 
journey. 

I also naturally thought that the cellar was a very 
suitable place for a poor miserable sinner like him, 
especially so, if he were clothed with sack-cloth 
and ashes, and his mind filled with repentance for 
the outrageous and atrocious act he had committed 
against my character. 

2. Finding it impossible to see him at his own 
house, and feeling afraid lest he would a second 
time misrepresent my remarks, there being no wit- 
ness by, but his partial wife, it was appointed for 
us to meet at the house of one of his friends, but 
even then, he would not, he dare not see mc. 

3. Perceiving that he was determined to act like 
a guilty, miserable sinner, by shunning every means 
which where calculated to bring his dirty deed to 



OF ITS GARB. 239 

light — I sent him a letter. Well, did he answer 
that letter ? ! no — no — no, like a ravaging lion he 
bit keenly, and then hid himself in his cave. Like 
a mean and cowardly school-boy, he struck the first 
blow and then ran away; or, he has told some 
miserable fibs, and then went out, or like a treacher- 
ous viper retired in secrecy, or as his wife said, 
he is gone " into the cellar" I hope that his retired 
moments in the cellar may be attended with serious 
reflections, and that those reflections may lead him 
to weep bitterly, and as his crime is so atrocious 
that it cannot be pardoned without the exercise of 
the stupendous mercy of a beneficent being, let us 
pray that mercy may be exercised in his behalf. 

4. After all the plans were adopted as stated 
above, and we had waited a long three months with- 
out being able to see him, or obtain his concessions, 
the following letter was directed to the editor of the 
Christian Secretary. 

New York, Delancey street, No. 26, June \§th, 1833. 

To theeditor of the Christian Secretary, Hartford, 

Connecticut. 
Sir— 

I think myself happy in being called upon by the 
light of revelation to differ from the generality of 
my Baptist brethren on the subject of open commu- 
nion, for which cause I have been roughly handled 
and severally persecuted by them. A few months 
past I was in the neighbourhood of Reading, when 
the news reached me that Mr. Larcombe of Dan- 



240 POPERY STRIPPED 

bury, charged me with being a bad man, because 
as he said, " Mr. H. had told him three lies." 

I immediately repaired to the neighbourhood of 
Mr. L.'s residence, to a Mr. Ambler, who lives in the 
same vicinity, who according to the information I re- 
ceived, was deputed to a neigbouring church, to carry 
the said statement. On my arrival, I met with a per- 
son who stated that he heard Mr. L. say that Mr. H. 
had told him two lies, the first is, that Mr H. told 
(Mr. L.) that Mr. H. came into Danbury by the 
coach 

The second is, that Mr. H. told him that Mr. 
Scmmers of New York, is an open communionist. 

I deny being guilty of telling him any lies, but if 
as he says, that I have given him " indubitable evi- 
dence of a disregard for truth"* let us ask him the 
following questions : 

1. Why did he not correct me when I made the 
statement ? 

2. I called at his house three or four days after 
the time alluded to above, and after I had waited a 
considerable time, his dear blessed wife informed 
me that he is busy in the cellar and cannot see you. 
But if I were such a notorious liar as to lay him un- 
der the necessity of publishing me to the world 
as such, by means of your public newspaper, 
why did he not leave his little dirty and of course 
trifling job in the cellar, to reprove me for my crime, 
or promote an amicable understanding ? 

* See the Chiistian Secretary for January 19th, 1833. Vol. 
12. No. 1. 



OF ITS GARB. 241 

3. His wife is well known to be a woman of con- 
siderable confidence, who has been as busy as him 
in circulating this slanderous report; then why did 
she not tell me of the mistakes in which I had fallen. 
Alas ! notwithstanding her uncommon share of mas- 
culine confidence, and the reproachful tales she, 
busy-body-like, had borne to her neighbours against 
me — she did not possess so much faithfulness. 

4. The Mr, Ambler's family, to which I have 
before referred, advised me to go to Mr. L. and try to 
get a right understanding. I answered, as a burnt 
child dreads the fire, so I could not think of throw- 
ing myself a second time in the hands of a man who 
had so awfully misrepresented me. Nevertheless, 
I am willing to meet him at any friend's house, pro- 
vided I might have witness present. Consequent- 
ly, they proposed that day, which was Saturday, 
that Mr. L. and I should meet at their house the 
Wednesday following, between the hours of one 
and three o'clock. Now, why did he not meet me ? 
for, mark you, the time arrived, when I faithfully 
walked five miles across the country, but Mr. L. 
had not more than one half mile to walk. Well, 
what was the result ? Why, he shrunk behind the 
curtain ; he evaded investigation ; he disliked an 
amicable discussion ! there being witness there, he 
knew that he had no opportunity of misrepresent- 
ing. Therefore, he had no relish for a disquisition 
on that subject, which he thought sufficiently au- 
gust and important to commit to public print. He 
loved to be in the dark, because his deeds were 
evil. He hovered out of the way, lest he should 

21 



242 POPERY STRIPPED 

be detected. He shunned investigation, lest it 
should lead to his conviction. 

Being able to call his own friends to witness to 
the truth of what I now state, I must leave the 
world to judge of his conduct, and close my re- 
marks by asking him why he shunned the proposed 
interview. 

Yours, &c. 

J. M. Horner. 

The editor having informed me that he had sent 
the above letter to Mr. L. it was reasonable to ex- 
pect that Mr. L. would have rendered some ac- 
count to the editor, for his arrant, slanderous, and 
persecuting conduct, and that the editor would have 
communicated with me. But having waited more 
than three months, and heard nothing from either 
of them, I addressed the following letter to the said 
editor : 

TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN SECRETARY,. 
HARTFORD, CONN. 

New-York, Delancey-st. No. 26, 1833. 

Sir — Without asking my leave, you allowed Mr. 
Larcombe, of Danbury, to commence an attack on 
my character, by means of your paper, dated Jan. 
19, 1833. 

Having used all possible means for a proper ad- 
justment of the misunderstanding between him and 
me, and waited a long three months, bearing his 
rancorous scorn and derision, and the prejudices of 
the public, which he had created against me with- 



OF ITS GARB. 243 

out any just cause, I at length found myself ne- 
cessitated to act as a man of life, by seeking for 
my justification through the medium of that public 
paper which you allowed to be employed to defame 
my character, and sink my name in disgrace. 

For this purpose, I directed a letter to you for in- 
sertion ; but you inform us by your paper, publish- 
ed June 22, that it " will, instead of being 'publish- 
ed, be forwarded to the person of whom reparation 
is claimed" or, as I understand it, you have sent 
my letter to Mr. L. to ask him if he toould like it 
to be published. But you did not send his letter to 
me to know whether you might publish it or not. 
But had not I as much right to see his letter before 
its publication as he had to see mine. Or, it is as 
though I were necessitated to ask him if I may be 
allowed to expose his inconsistencies. There be- 
ing a misunderstanding between Mr. L. and me, 
you have applied to him for a decision on the sub- 
ject. But that cannot be right ; for it is like mak- 
ing a man judge in his own case; or, like asking 
the criminal if he will allow himself to be judged. 
That is like asking the Jewish high priests if Christ 
was not an " impostor ;" or, it is like applying to 
the pope, to know if WicklifTe was not an heretic. 
But can this be a manly principle to act upon ? Is 
it likely that Mr. L. will consent to have his nefa- 
rious crime exhibited to public view ? Then, why 
send my letter to him ? He has, in the most pub- 
lic manner, charged me with ly ing, by means of your 
paper ; but you will not allow me to make a reply. 
You hand him the means by which he has cast me 



244 POPERY STRIPPED 

under public scorn and obloquy ; but you have rob- 
bed me of the proper and rightful means by which 
I might set myself right in their estimation. 

When he found that I believed in open commun- 
ion, he began to declaim against, and jangle with 
me ; and because his impotent mind could not 
bear a deliberate investigation, nor the argumenta- 
tive weight of his opponent, he has dipped his pen 
in malice, and thrown his invectives at me with ven- 
geance. But you will not allow me to use the 
proper shield of defence. Thus, like a wicked Saul, 
you are holding the clothes of my character, while 
your colleagues are stoning me to death. Is this do- 
ing to others as ye would they should do unto you ? 

Can you suppose that you are in thiscase,. actu- 
ated by a- manly principle 1 What, I ask, with pro- 
voked astonishment and insulted feelings, am I 
compelled to bear with Mr. L.'s lying and libelous: 
slander on my name and character^ and you to be- 
come his helpmate in this diabolical work of de- 
stroying my usefulness ? And must not I be allow- 
ed to lift up my voice ? O, what horrid despotism, 
what monstrous cruelty, and what a baneful princi- 
ple is that, which allows Mr. L., in the plenitude 
of his unbridled malice, to shoot his poisoned darts 
at the very heart of my character ; leave it bleed- 
ing at a thousand pores; and in the very midst of 
all these indescribable and undeserved tortures, I 
must not be allowed to cry ; O, no, nor to seek for 
the healing of those wounds he has inflicted. 

Such an unrefined and clownish principle ; such 
inhumanity and downright despotism, is frightful to 



OF ITS GARB. 245 

an extreme, and dangerous in proportion as it is en- 
couraged. The annals of history are not stained 
with a blacker principle ; the precincts of despotism 
do not develope evidences of a greater cruelty. 

Whatj sir, can it be right that Christ should be 
charged with " imposition" by the high priests of 
the Jews, and he not allowed to speak for himself ? 
Can it be right that Paul should be arraigned before 
Felix, and he not allowed to speak in his own de- 
fence ? Can it be right that Uriah should be placed 
before the implements of destruction, for the sake 
of gaining a wicked purpose, without either him, 
Nathan, or any friend being allowed to say, " thou 
art the ?nan." 

If your paper is published for the purpose of slan- 
dering individuals, against whom neither you nor 
Mr. L. have proved any immorality, and that with- 
out allowing them to stand up in their own justifi- 
cation, then / hasten to pray that it may sink into 
ten thousand annihilations, and everlasting silence. 
If the people are called upon to subscribe and sup- 
port you and your paper, while you make it a vehi- 
cle of slander to innocent individuals, I should say 
let them withdraw their patronage, lest the curse of 
God rest upon them. 

If Mr. L. is to be allowed'to commence an attack 
on my character, charge me with the worst of 
crimes, and set the prejudices of the public upon 
me, without a just or a reasonable cause, by means 
of your paper ; and then you will not allow my an- 
swers and letters of justification to be inserted.— 
21* 



246 POPERY STRIPPED 

Then I appeal to your own judgment when I ask 
you, is not that the worst of principles by which any 
editor can be actuated? for notwithstanding those 
false accusations, it is my happiness, " nil conscire 
sibi nulla pallescare culpa" therefore able to bear 
your rigorous persecutions. 

J. M. Horner. 

Reflection. 

We here perceive the means of despotism and 
persecution which these heraldric heresiarchs are 
every where implying. One draws up a slanderous 
statement, and gets it published in one or more of 
their sectarian papers, and then hides himself be- 
hind the screen, and crowds his head in silence. — - 
Another circulates the false slanders by those means 
which have been given to them by some satanical 
influence, and then he also hides himself behind his 
right to do as he likes with his sectarian, partial, 
and slanderous sheets. Thus we are to be driven, 
at all events, from our peaceable and daily duties, 
to the dark chambers of scorn and derision, without 
judge or jury, or without being allowed to speak in 
our own defence. If this is not persecution, we 
know not what persecution is. 

If this is not following us with rigour and ven- 
geance, then we must resign our judgment to others. 
We ask any man of common sense, if this is not a 
most awful species of persecution ? 

To persecute, signifies to oppress, vex, or follow 
with malignity. Now, have not our enemies op- 



OF ITS GARB. 247 

pressed us, by loading us with their arrant slanders, 
which the wickedness of their minds have enabled 
them to invent ? Have not they done sufficient to 
vex the soul of any righteous man, by robbing us of 
our right to proper means of justification ? Have 
not they followed us with all the malice and malig- 
nity of which rancorous minds alone are' capable ? 

And what is it all for, not because we are guilty 
of any immorality, for this they never proved ; not 
because Mr. H. is unfit for the office in which he is 
engaged, for that they never showed ; but because 
he is an heretic, a systematical open communion- 
ist. This is their onus probandi. 

For this sentiment, I am singled out and marked, 
as being without the pale of the visible church. If 
nature, or the God of nature, have endowed us with 
any thing which has so exasperated their jealousies 
and animosities, they should blame the cause and 
not the effect. 

But notwithstanding their collusive and nefarious 
conduct towards us, we are told that " they are 
good men ;" therefore, that we must be very mild 
with them. But we can understand no more by 
this than that they would have us manifest a mock- 
ish sensitiveness towards their baneful and mali- 
cious attempts. 

If they were good men, their goodness, in their 
transactions towards us, is metamorphised into inhu- 
man. The violence of their conduct, the fierceness 
of their wrath, the impetuosity of their advertise- 
ments, all prove the baseness of their minds, and 
the wickedness of their hands. 



248 POrERY STRIPPED 

If what we state is not true, let them give evi- 
dence, to the contrary ; for, to believe them without 
proof, is to make your companionship with infamy, 
and drink down confidence from the dregs of cor- 
ruption. 






OF ITS GARB. 249 



CHAPTER VI. 

Contains an account of the savage Conduct of the ruf- 
fians EMPLOYED BY THE PAPISTICAL COUNCIL OF GOLD STREET 
AND FlSHKILL, TO CARRY ON THEIR DEEDS OF DESPOTISM AND 
PERSECUTION. 

Lest our enemies should say that, although they 
had done wrong, there was no time or opportunity 
to retract their steps, we waited twelve months be- 
fore we appealed to the press. When the long 
year had rolled round, and the New-York Associa- 
tion was sitting in the Gold-street Meeting-House, 
it was thought to be our duty to attend. 

Having waited there till I was persuaded that 
their business was nearly finished, I in an audible 
tone, proposed the following question to them : 

Mr. Moderator — May we be allowed to ask by 
what authority this Association made use of my 
name last year. 

At this, every person in the assembly appeared 
to be struck with amazement, every eye now in- 
stantly fixed on me. As for the moderator, his face 
first turned pale, and in another instant it was dyed 
a crimson colour, while his whole frame was evident- 
ly confused, he turned round to look among the 
cardinals as if he wished to see the pope, to ask him 
what answer he should give to this well timed 
and pertinent question. After he had consulted with 



250 POPERY STRIPPED 

his mightiness, he addressed himself to me, and 
said : If you will wait, your business shall be at- 
tended to. Sir, I answered, I have already waited 
a long year — bearing the public scorn and obloquy 
which you have unjustly cast on me, therefore by 
this time my patience is nearly exhausted, never- 
theless, if you will be kind enough to set a time 
when you will attend to the case, I will wait. 
Before I had finished this observation several men 
came round me, and in a dogmatical, ostentatious 
manner, like so many officers of the Spanish inquisi- 
tion ordered me out of doors, and threatened to pull 
me out of the public pew, in which I had taken 
my seat. Another threatened me with imprisonment, 
one said one thing, another said another, in such a 
confused manner that at length we could not distin- 
guish what any of them said. 

I do not suppose that two minutes expired from 
the time I spoke to the moderator, to the time when 
six or eight ruffians got hold of me. Some took hold 
of the collar of my coat — others hold of the back of 
it, some pushed, others pulled, pinching my flesh at 
the same time in the most brutish manner, so that 
their conduct on that occasion is an obvious proof of 
their uncivilized, savage, and rancorous dispositions ; 
and if they are Mr. Parkinson's hearers according to 
our information, it is most evident that his preaching 
to them is of non-effect. During the time of their 
hostilities, we positively assert that I made no phy- 
sical resistance ; yet they originated such an indes- 
cribable uproar, that it was impossible for them to 
hear each other speak. However, we went on our 



DP ITS GARB. 251 

way rejoicing that athough they might afflict and 
torture the body, they could not injure the soul — and 
that as we had the liberty of the press, we should 
enjoy the happiness of complying with our duty to 
expose their arrant inconsistencies. 

The next day which was the 2d of June, 1833, 
we attended their meeting again, and quietly took 
our seat till a friend of ours, the Rev. Rogers of 
Scotch Plains, N. J. introduced the case again by 
asking the moderator if the clause of their minutes 
which referred to Mr. Horner, was to be continued 
in their next minutes, or not — the Rev. Dodge, of 
Newark, arose to answer that " there was no occa- 
sion/or questions on that subject, the clause referred 
to did not do Mr. H. any harm, what the Association 
had said did not in the least impeach his character, 
they had only stated a matter of fact." , 

This Mr. Dodge, stated some glaring untruths 
the day previous to this, not in our hearing, but 
after they had in the most barbarous manner turned 
me out of doors, merely because they were afraid 
that I should expose them in that assembly, or 
because I attempted to speak in my own defence. 
Now, if Mr. Dodge were an honest man, and had 
nothing to state but what was truth, why not make 
his statement before in our hearing ? Why does he 
seek to tell his tales against us in our absence ? 
Why enlist a band of ruffians to carry me out of 
his sight and hearing, before he dare venture to tell 
his slanderous tales ? If he had nothing but truths 
to state, why not make his statements in our hear- 
ing as well as in our absence ? 



252 POPERY STRIPPED 

We leave the reader to judge if these things do 
not prove their guilt, and develope their inclinations 
to popish despotism. But let us leave what he said 
on the day before, and attend to what he said on 
this occasion. He said, " that there was no occasion 
for any questions on that subject." This observa- 
tion reminds me of the strong dislike which the 
popish priests have to the reformation society, be- 
cause it questions the peculiar doctrines on which 
their craft is dependent. 

The same remark may be applied to Mr. Dodge. 
For why should he be so very much afraid that any 
questions should be raised on this momentous sub- 
ject 1 O why, because he knew perfectly well that 
they had been carrying the monstrous spirit of per- 
secution against us for a whole year, under a cloak, 
and that a few questions on that subject would tend 
to draw the curtain aside and manifest their har- 
lotry and uncomely principle. Therefore he wished 
to preserve the matter in as much privacy as the 
papists keep the gun powder plot, he knew their de- 
sign was uncomely, therefore he wished to throw 
the cloak of silence round it. But never mind, it is 
a good omen to see men ashamed of their dirty tricks. 
If this was not the case, why should he be so much 
afraid of a few questions on the subject ? Why de- 
sire to put a padlock on every man's jaw ? Why 
does he wish to preserve it in eternal silence? Why 
does every nerve and sinue about his body shake, 
when his doings are questioned ? 

If their plots and schemes are of an heavenly na- 
ture, as they pretend and as they would have us all 



OF ITS GARB. 253 

believe, why hide them from our view ? If in this 
act, they did their duty to their God, as they hypo- 
critcally profess, why be so much ashamed of it 
as not to allow a few questions on their doings ? 
Why be so much afraid of the nudity of their nuncio ? 
Does not their unquenchable desire for preserving 
this subject in secrecy, as expressed by Mr. Dodge, 
abundantly develope their guilt, and therefore no 
wonder that Mr. D.'s manner should be so indica- 
tive of his strong desire to add incedimus per ignes 
suppositos cineri doloso 1 

The mind must be bound with a chain stronger 
than that of the Hindoo casts, that cannot behold 
the heights and depths of despotism and wicked- 
ness couched under their strong and unquenchable 
desire for secrecy in this matter. 

He said : " The clause referred to, ivill do Mi\ 
H. no harm." 

What ! can the Association insinuate that Mr. H. 
is an " impostor oris" villain, and yet do him no 
harm ? What ! can it be possible that Mr. H. can 
be represented all over the United States, as an 
" impostor" and yet no harm be done to his name 
or character? What! can it be possible that the 
prejudices of the people, and the scorn of the pub- 
lic can be turned upon him in every direction of 
the -country, and yet do him no harm? What ! is 
it conceivable that he can possess such holy princi- 
ples, and his demeanor be so exemplary, as to live 
down all the infernal insinuations of that priestly 
council, and lift up a standard against the mighty 
torrents of invectives which they have thrown out 
22 



254 POPERY STRIPPED 

against him, so that no harm is done to him 1 
Why, how is it possible that he can do all this I 
To achieve such a mighty work, he needs the 
meekness of Moses, the eloquence of Joshua, the 
religion of Josiah, the humility of David, the wis- 
dom of Solomon, the zeal of Constantine, and the 
clemency of Theodosius. 

What ! has the papistical association so far lost 
its influence, if any it had, as to have its insinua- 
tions and declarations beat down and entirely over- 
come by the solitary and individual character of 
Mr. H. ? Why this is like telling us that Luther 
and Calvin overcame the insinuations of the associ- 
ation of Trent, and the bulls of the pope. 

Well, if Mr. H.'s character has more influence 
over the public mind than the doings of the perse- 
cuting council, let it be so ; happy is the man who 
can make such glorious conquests ; he deserves to 
be crowned emperor of modern ecclesiastical des- 
pots. Mr. D. may have stated a truth when he 
said that their doings towards Mr. H. would do him 
no harm ; but we would willingly hope that neither 
Mr. D. nor any of the band of my implacable ene- 
mies, would have the audaciousness to say that 
they did not intend to do Mr. H. harm. 

He said : " We have only stated a matter of 
fact." But we have shown, in chapter the 2d, as 
clear as the sun, when it shines at noon day, that 
what he calls a matter of fact, is a matter of the 
grossest falsehood that was ever invented by any 
ungodly set of men in the world. 

In this case, we have not done as Mr. D. has 
done, for he only made a bare assertion ; but we 



OF ITS GARB. 255 

have accompanied our statements with evidences 
which are as far beyond the power of dispute as 
truth is from falsehood. 

The leaders, the dons, and the wicked popes 
of the association, appeared to be convinced that 
what Mr. D. stated was false> because they took 
every precaution against me being allowed to ques- 
tion the truth of what he stated. Several others 
rose up in rapid succession, who made statements 
equally ridiculous. To all those glaring and lying 
slanders we silently listened, with how much pa- 
tience and composure of mind, we will not pre- 
tend to say. During the time they were uttering 
their lying slanders, my mind was especially struck 
with the restlessness of Mr. Parkinson, who ac- 
cording to information which we have received, 
has always managed his wonderful matters with 
the craftiness of a Simon Magus, and the cunning 
of an English fox. 

That the above very reverend gentleman has a 
full developement of Secretiveness, we doubt 
not — but shall we dare to say that Amitiveness is 
not most predominant ? Non obstante, if his cal- 
vian evangelium be founded in verity, there can be 
no doubt of his canonization at the time of his dem- 
iseical egression. Well-,, he was all the time go- 
ing up and down the alley, from pew to pew, as if 
he were making some preparations to prevent us 
from answering the false statements they were 
making. 

But what most astonished us was, that they were 
not struck dumb ; or that the roof of the building 



256 POPERY STRIPPED 

did not fall on them and crush them to atoms ; 
because their wickedness appeared to exceed all 
that we ever witnessed. Although we had evidence 
on the spot with which we could have confused all 
they advanced on that occasion, yet we never at- 
tempted to interrupt them till they had done ; of 
course, never dreaming that they would be so des- 
perate, partial, and unfair, as not to allow us to 
make a replication. How was it possible that we 
could imagine, but that in this enlightened republic,, 
(where equal rights are maintained) we should be 
allowed to speak in self-defence 1 for even in the 
civil and ecclesiastical courts of Lisbon, Ma'dridj, 
Spain, Switzerland, &c. &c, the accused are allow- 
ed to speak in their own defence. But be aston- 
ished, Q heaven, and shudder, O earth, when we. 
tell you, that even that poor privilege was denied 
us by the wicked, desperate, and tyrannical council 
of Gold-street. 

After they had said all they felt disposed to say > 
I addressed the chairman as follows : 

Mr. Moderator, we hope you will not allow all 
these statements to be made against my name and 
character, without allowing me to make a reply. — ■ 
But they were so far from allowing this, the privi- 
lege which the apostle Paul claimed,* that five or 
six men, who evidently had been skulking in the 
corners to be in readiness, came upon us with their 
staffs and staves, who manifested strong evidences 
that the job in which they were engaged was a bad 

* &ctsxxi. 37,38,39. 



OF ITS GARB. 257 

one ; for their tongues stammered, their lips quiv- 
ered, their cheeks looked pale and wan, their eyes 
appeared as though they were ready to start from 
their sockets, and the hair of their heads took an 
unnatural position, as though the lamdioidal suturs 
of their cerebellum would have bursted ; in fact, they 
appeared to be a black band commissioned from 
the lower regions, to perpetrate a deed that would 
put the wickedest of men to the blush. 

These savage fiends seized me with all the ven- 
geance of brutes, and the greediness of untamed 
lions, and took hold of several places of my coat, 
while some of them, pinching me at the same time 
in the most merciless manner, as though they were 
bent on pulling large pieces of flesh out of my ten- 
der and precious fat sides ; or as though they were 
determined to dislocate my earthly house, which 
was built by the wisest of architectures, and who 
had forbidden them to destroy it. 

In this carnivorous and brutish manner, they 
turned me out of doors into the public street, with- 
out hat, umbrella, handkerchief, papers, and mem- 
orandum book, containing private and public wri- 
tings, and notes of considerable value. Now what 
must we think of the atrocity of their conduct ? — 
Are not their austerities, and their strong and un- 
quenchable desires for secrecy in these matters, 
demonstrative evidences of their guilt? If their 
charges against me were true, is it possible to ima- 
gine that we should, in the most public manner, 
seek for an investigation of them ? If they were 
persuaded of their innocency in this case, would not 
22* 



258 POPERY STRIPPED 

they love to investigate it, in order that the justness 
of their conduct might appear ? 

No witnesses on oath, no printed or written doc- 
ument could be stronger evidences of their guilt, 
than their aversion to have this matter investigated. 

The man that cannot discern the evidences of 
their sin in their unquenchable desires for secrecy 
in this matter, must either be blinded by sectarian- 
ism, or devoid of common sense,, or common experi- 
ence. 

Being able to call scores to testify to the veracity 
of the above facts, we leave the world to judge of 
the perpetuation of their desperate conduct. Hom- 
inis errore; insipientis veroin errore perseverare. 

We afterward went on our way, drawing immea- 
surable satisfaction from the consideration that how- 
ever they might violate the laws of the United States, 
by committing a libel against my character, and de- 
nying us the liberty of speaking in self-defence, yet 
they could not deny us the liberty of the press ; 
and that we should have an unspeakable pleasure 
in discharging our duty, by exposing their wicked- 
ness, and stripping their popish principles ; and that 
although they had dug a pit designedly for ttte in- 
terment of an open communionist, yet they have 
only opened the portals of the tomb from whence 
he will evince a resurrection power to fix an eter- 
nal blush on their guilty cheeks, develope the cause 
of their unquenchable thirst for secrecy, and bury 
them in that tomb of silence and disgrace which 
they designed for him, the soundness of whose sen- 
timents they cannot dispute, and whose character 



OF ITS GARB. 259 

will bear down all theii malicious attempts, crafty 
manoeuvres, and popish conduct. They have laid 
a snare designedly to entrap and destroy my cha- 
racter, but they will be taken in their own craftiness. 
It was formerly my intention to attend all the as- 
sociations of my wicked opponents, but since it is 
perceived that my presence induced them to make 
such uncivilized disturbances, it was thought best 
to address the Warwick and Hudson River Asso- 
ciations by letters, of which we will here give a 
copy : 

To the Warwick Baptist Association, assembled at 
Orange, (N. J.) on the 12th of June, 1833. To 
the care of Elder Zelotes Grenell, Orange, 
(N. J.) 

New-York, Delancy- street, No. 26, 
June 3, 1833. 

BRETHREN AND FATHERS, 

It is with deference and due respect, I would 
beg leave to submit the following questions and re- 
marks to you, while convened to deliberate on those 
things which concern yourselves, churches,, and con- 
gregations. 

By looking over your last year's minutes, it is 
perceived that you have been sufficiently kind, hu- 
mane, and beneficent to represent me as an " im- 
postor," and speak of my " iniquitous career." 
May it please you to inform us who or what I have 
" imposed" upon ? where and in what manner my 
iniquity was developed? and for what cause you 



260 POPERY STRIPPED 

have represented me through the United States, as 
the worst of characters ? 

As there can be no doubt but that you love your- 
selves nearly as well as you do your neighbours, 
and that you have a very little regard for the con- 
sistency of your characters, you will be dispo- 
sed to give direct, definite, and untarnished answers 
to these all important, just, and reasonable ques- 
tions ; for you know that criminals of all nations 
and countries, however vile and notorious, are al- 
ways made acquainted with, not only the nature of 
their crimes, but the evidences of them. I there- 
fore hope that I have not been so vile as to forbid 
the exercise of your clemency in making known 
the nature of my guilt, and the evidences of it. In 
so doing, you will oblige your humble,, but other- 
wise persecuted servant, 

J. M. Horner. 

Neio-York, Delancy-st. No. 26, 
June 6, 1833. 

To the care of Elder Cone, Mott-street, New- York. 
To the Hudson River Baptist Association, which 
sits on the 16th of June, 1833. 

brethren and fathers, 

Principiis absta 

Ratio justifica suasoria. 

It is a due regard for the consistency of your 
characters, and especially for the good of myself 
that induces me to address you as follows — 

By looking over your last year's minutes, we ob- 



OF ITS GARB. 261 

serve, you have been sufficiently beneficent, so 
abundantly humane, and so uncommonly, kind as to 
publish me as a vile " impostor" therefore may it 
please your council to inform us now. Wretch that 
I am. Now I have through a long twelve months, 
suffered the vengeance of your rigorous and merci- 
less law, and the griping of your timely sheal, and 
all the pains and execrations which your humane, 
or inhumane council of 1832 chose to inflict on 
me, and that without judge or jury, or the accused 
and the accuser being brought face to face. Now 
you have done all your wisdom directed you to do — 
now you have done all that is in your power to do. 
Now, may it please you to inform us, who or what 
I have " imposed" upon ? Where, and in what 
manner my " impositions" were devoloped, and for 
what cause you have repiesented me through the 
United States, as the worst of characters ? 

I humbly hope that you love yourselves better 
than me, and therefore that you have such a concern 
for your standing in the public estimation as to give 
untarnished, definite, and pointed answers to these 
naked and all important questions.'- For you know 
that criminals of even Lisbon, or Madrid, however 
vile and notorious their crimes and characters, are 
always made acquainted with not only the nature 
of their depredations, but the evidences of them. 

Therefore, we hope that I have not been so vile 
as to forbid the exercise of your clemency in making 
known the nature of my guilt, and the evidences 
of it? 



262 POPERY STRIPPED 

In so doing you will confer a lasting obligation 
on your humble, but otherwise persecuted servant, 

J. M. Horner. 

Well, did they answer the reasonable and legiti- 
mate questions imbodied in these letters ? Here 
we pause, rinding ourselves compelled to expose 
their atrocious wickedness, by telling the world 
that they did not answer these questions T Poor 
miserable sinners, we once thought that it would 
be a pleasure for us to comply with our duty in ex- 
posing their arrant wickedness, but when we look 
further into the atrocity and blackness of their con- 
duct, we find that in order to perform the task so in- 
cumbent upon us, we need the boldness of Nathan, 
when he said, " thou art the man" or the faithfulness 
of Christ, when he said, " ye are of your father the 
devil, for his works ye do? 

Their nefarious conduct would bear strong ani<c 
madversions, but having given a plain statement of 
facts, every reader with an impartial mind will per- 
ceive from those facts, and the conduct of our im- 
placable enemies, a developement of their guilt, and 
the evidences of their persecuting spirit. Therefore, 
we will leave these matters and the arrant proceed- 
ings of our wicked opponents, to him who judgeth 
righteously, and who can sanctify their violent 
persecutions to our minds, and cause them to re- 
dound to my good and the promotion of open 
communion and liberal sentiments. 

When men, foul persecutors turn, 
All their religion is a dream, 



OF ITS GARB. 263 

Or else it is mistaken zeal, 

That leads them thus to act so vile. 

Poor Peter once drew forth his sword, 
To cut or slay ; but said the Lord, 
Put up thy sword into its sheath, 
And do not exercise thy wrath. 

For it is written in the word, 
That they who use the full drawn sword, 
Shall perish by its wielding power — 
Be slain, and fall to rise no more ! 

Therefore that instrument draw back. 
And sheath it for thy master's sake ; 
Do not disgrace thyself or cause, 
Nor violate our holy laws. 

If men build dungeons to confine, 
Or light up faggots to a flame, 
Or if iniquisitors invent 
The implements of punishment, 

To torture and afflict the man 
Who does not think the very same 
As they, or if they evil speak, 
And by false slanders daily seek 

For to destroy his name, and then 
Sink him into disgrace and shame, 
The principle's the very same 
In every land, in every clime. 

Now are my persecutors, thus 
As bad as Spain's inquisitors 



264 POPERY STRIPPED 

If any difference there be, 

My enemies are worse than they. 

The Union Association, like many others, com- 
menced an attack on my name and character, as 
may be seen by chapter the fifth. Consequently, 
we thought it our duty to attend, and ask them to 
assign the reasons for their baneful conduct. 

Well, the long year rolled round, during which 
time I had to bear the public hatred and scorn 
which they had unjustly created. 

When they assembled on the 5th of September, 
1833, in the meeting-house of the first Baptist 
church in Fishkill, N. Y., where we attended, and 
waited through the whole of the first day of their 
sitting without introducing my case ; during which 
time, we had an opportunity of noticing their man- 
ner of conducting affairs ; and of all the men that 
ever we saw transact what they call public business, 
none ought to be more despised, none ought to be 
more pitied. 

They chose a- Mr. Benedict, who pretends to be 
a priest of the most high God at New Milford, who 
gave strong evidences of his want of knowledge for 
the proper discharge of the duties connected with 
the office to which he had been chosen, by apply- 
ing to his inferior, (namely, the impotent G. Bene- 
dict) for directions how to conduct and manage his 
every day matters. And yet after all this concentra- 
ted wisdom, it would alarm and disgust every sen^ 
sible man to know with what usurpation, despotism, 
and ignorance they controlled the affairs of the 



OF ITS GARB. 265 

council ; because one of them would make a prop- 
osition, the other would second it, and perhaps not 
one time out of ten, would get more than from three 
to six votes, from about three hundred people. — 
And yet without attempting to ask for a vote on the 
other side of the question, they would invariably 
carry their points, however erroneous and galling to 
the other members of the Association. 

Now we greatly question if airy. one can point us 
to a council within the precincts of the popish hie- 
rarchy, which has conducted its affairs with such 
individuality, conjoined with a despotic demeanour, 
calculated to assure every dispassionate and impar- 
tial witness, that they would be relentless usurpers, 
provided circumstances favoured their designs. — 
Such a method of transacting business, and making 
rules and laws for the government of others, is as 
much like absolute monarchy, although in a land of 
democracy, as ever was practised in all the lengths 
and breadths of popedom. And how the good peo- 
ple of America, who are daily holding up "univer- 
sal and equal rights" can put up with such despo- 
tism, we are at a loss to know. If motions are to 
be made into laws by individuals, then there is 
nothing to guarantee to us that our senses will not 
again be gulled with tran substantiation, extreme 
unction, &c. &c. Such conduct invades the rights 
of the people, and is dangerous in proportion as sub- 
jection is rendered to it, and threatens to deluge our 
land with ecclesiastical tyranny ; but it is our aim 
to strip this principle of popery of its garb. Labor 
om nia vincit. Their private manner of conducting 
23 



%66 POPERY STRIPPED 

their affairs will enable us to account for the man* 
ner in which they issued their bull against me. 

We are aware that they have the effrontery to 
tell us that they do not pretend to make laws for 
the government of others ; but we think such a pre- 
tension is hypocritical and absurd, as we could de- 
monstrate by referring to innumerable instances 
wdiich are too multifarious to bring forward in this 
place, but which we intend to expose on a future 
occasion. 

We hope that the people will be on the look-out, 
and open their eyes to these popish transactions, 
and crafty manoeuvreings, for our soulloaths priest- 
craft, and has declared eternal war against despo- 
tism ; and we are determined to expose its naked 
and uncomely parts, for^he laudable and important 
purpose of enlisting the energies of our fellow-men 
in this holy alliance. 

But lest we should neglect ourselves by paying 
too much attention to our enemies, we w r ill return 
and observe — that when the second day of their sit- 
ting rolled on, and they appeared to be drawing 
towards a close with their business, we took what 
we apprehended to be a suitable time to introduce 
our case. Therefore I rose, and addressed him 
whom they call the moderator, as follows — 

Mr. Moderator, may we be allowed to ask by 
what authority this association made use of my 
name last year ? To this question he made no an- 
swer, but turned towards the people, and said : 
friends, this is an '• impostor :" here, G. Benedict 
rose, and said, this man has been disturbing two or 



OF ITS GARB. 267 

three others of our Association, if he will not be 
quiet some of the friends must turn him out of 
doors. 

We hope the reader will bear with us, while we 
animadvert on these sarcastical, lying, and wicked 
slanders. 

The first that we shall notice is that of the Chair- 
man, he said — " this is an impostor." But did he 
prove what he said? O no ! neither did he make 
the attempt ; because to do this, is as far beyond 
his power, as the north star is above the reach of 
his arm. Now what must we think of a man pre- 
tending to be a Christian minister, making such an 
arrant declaration as this, and that in the most public 
manner, of an individual against whom he proved 
nothing^-against whom he cannot prove any guilt ; 
against whom we challenge him to prove any im- 
moral conduct. 

In this slanderous assertion he evidently broke 
the laws of our country ; for it cannot be that the 
laws of a civilized nation can allow their subjects 
to be treated in this abusive and disgraceful manner. 
Yet our rigid and implacable enemies, who do not 
like that we should have the privilege of seeking 
for our own justification — would no doubt think and 
represent me to be a very bad man if we were to 
enter an action against Mr. Benedict for this slan- 
derous and uncivilized abuse of my person and 
character. How he would answer for his conduct 
in a court of justice we will not presume to say ; 
but ic is evident that he would cut a chagrined fig- 
ure, except he be an unconscious wretch, we 



268 POPERY STRIPPED 

certainly think that it would serve him right to put 
the matter to the test. 

But let us notice the lying assertion of G. Bene- 
dict. 

He said, u he has been disturbing two or three 
other of our Associations." Now let it be observed- 
that I never attended more than one of their Asso- 
ciations besides this, which was that of New York. 
Therefore, we call upon him to explain what he 
means by two or three other Associations ? 

But mark ! when we ask them to assign a 
reason for their nefarious conduct and outrage on> 
my person and character, they call it a disturbance. 
What, let us ask with astonishment, ( if after 
they have represented me all over the United 
States as the worst of villains — I ask them for the 
reason of their persecuting conduct). is it. to be con- 
sidered a disturbance ; true, if their conduct is bad ? 
they may consider their feelings disturbed when 
they are called to an account, but if they have done 
right,. we conclude that it would please them instead: 
of disturbing them, to give up their account. 

They have already manifested their malignity 
towards us. Therefore, every intelligent, reader 
can discern that if they had any evidences of the 
truth of their black, infamous, and- persecuting 
charges, they would with alacrity and inconceivable 
delight produce them, because they evidently wish 
to prejudice the minds of the people against me ; 
and the most efficient manner to do so, would be to 
prove to the people that I am the character they 
have represented me to be. 

No time or opportunity could afford them more 



OF ITS GARB. 269 

facilities than when they were thus assembled ; con- 
sequently their failure to do so on that occasion is 
an evident and satisfactory proof that they cannot. 
Now what must we think of a number of men who 
have thus united their hotest malice and fiery indig- 
nation, designedly to destroy an individual' against 
whom they are so far from proving any guilt, that 
simply because he asked them to assign a reason 
for their conduct, sent men to turn him out of doors. 
Who literally did perform the wicked deed. 

This circumstance is the more mortifying, be- 
cause of the men they sent. One was a very light 
man, who is low in stature, with a broken down and 
weak constitution ; who is a complete manakin, and 
whom I could have thrown over my head. 

The other is still lower in stature, with a dark, 
swarthy, dirty face, and large flakes of filth at each 
corner of his mouth. I name this circumstance to 
show that he is not only destitute of common decen- 
cy, but of the principles of Christianity ; for those 
principles inculcate the necessity of decency and 
cleanliness. He had also a pair of cross eyes, 
which indicated the weakness of his mind, from 
whence emanate the weakness of his transactions. 
We thus described these men as an evidence of our 
forbearance, even in circumstances like those just 
stated. 

Let us now leave these manakins to themselves 
and their stinging reflections, and return to their 
employers. 

When they had turned me out of doors, a number 
of friends followed, as if they were desirous of 
33 * 



270 POPERY STRIPPED 

hearing both sides of the question. Perceiving 
those desires to sit with anxious solicitude on their 
countenances, I ventured to give them a concise 
historical account of the violent persecutions of our 
malignant and atrocious enemies towards us, and 
made such animadversions as naturally grew out of 
their persecuting conduct. During this time; these 
foul and unfair persecutors manifested strong and 
restless desires to get the people back into the 
meeting-house again, so much so that George Ben- 
edict actually took some of them by the collar of 
their coats and pulled them into the meeting-house. 
Now why are these strange desires manifested, and 
for what cause do they develope such unmanly con- 
duct ? O why, because they knew light well that 
we had it in our power to expose their arrant con- 
duct, and convince the people of their wickedness. 

Their willingness to charge me with the worst of 
crimes, and their uncommon backwardness to give 
an account of their conduct is worthy, not of our im- 
itation, but of our severest remarks, and Christ- 
like rebukes, and tend to remind us of the unfair, 
barbarous, and despotic conduct of the malicious 
Jews, as developed in their tyranical doings towards 
Jesus Christ. 

Let us look at and compare the dialogues of the 
two cases. 

When Christ was arraigned before the bar of Pi- 
late, who was judge of the court, before which 
Christ was tried as a criminal, and who questioned 
Christ's accusers touching his supposed criminal- 
ity, saying : 

Pilate. "What shall I do with Jesus, which is 
jailed Christ T 



OF ITS GARB. 271 

High Priests. " Let him be crucified," 

Pilate. "Why, what evil hath he done ?" 

High Priests. " Crucify him, crucify him." 

Pilate. "And he said unto them the third time, 
why, what evil hath he done 1 I have found no cause 
of death in him." 

High Priests. And they cried out again, Cruci- 
fy him, crucify him." 

The principles and conduct of our malicious ene- 
mies being exhibited, will identify their desperate 
proceedings with those of the incensed and outra- 
geous Jews. 

Justice. What is the reason that induced you to 
treat Mr. Horner with such cruelty ? 

Rigid Baptist High Priests. O, he is an " im 
postor." 

Justice. "Why, what evil hath he done ?" 

Rigid Baptist High P?'iests. O, he is an " im- 
postor." 

Justice, But I say again, what evil hath he done ? 

Rigid Baptist High Priests.. O, he is an "im- 
postor." 

We have followed them both in person and by 
letters, and this is all and the only answer that is to 
be got from them. And what must we think of 
men,. who, when they are reasonably questioned 
relative to their iniquitous proceedings, and murder- 
ous conduct, will not render their account? It is 
clear and evident that their duty to God, themselves, 
and to the public, calls loudly upon them to produce 
the evidences of the infamous charge with which 
they have loaded my name and character. 

If I am the " impostorous" wretch they have rep- 
resented, then the justice of God, their own charac- 



272 POPERY STRIPPED 

ters, and a civil public, demand, yea, strongly de- 
mand, that they should produce the evidences of the 
deflouring charge with which they have loaded my 
name, and attempted to sink me to everlasting con- 
tempt. 

But they have not produced those evidences, nor 
they never attempted to do so : neither are they able. 
We have challenged them to the task time after 
time ; we have dared them again and again to do it, 
individually and collectively, but they, with all their 
concentrated schemes, with all their amalgamated 
and arrant desires, were never competent to the task. 

Therefore they are in a most pitiable condition ; 
for they have saddled a hobby that will not carry 
them. They have raised a smoke that chokes them, 
and they have brought forward a charge they can- 
not sustain. 

Notwithstanding their great wickedness and wil- 
ful obstinacy, we trust they are not so blind as not to 
discover in the foregoing observations, and also in 
the name of that great, good, and illustrious divine, 
(Rob. Hall,) being given as a test to my character, 
a refutation of all their base calumnies and unfound- 
ed slanders. If they ever attempt again to injure 
the sails of our little bark, the reader may depend 
on it, that we shall always be above-board, and that 
our enemies will find more sand-bars than clear seas, 
and more broadsides than fair winds. 

" Benedictus Deus, qui dat lasso fortitudinem et 
qui non sunt vires robur mulliplicavit" 



A LETTER 

TO PRIEST LACOMBE. 



Sir — Your's, of December 5. 1833, to Mr. Caleb Morse, and the 
Baptist friends at Litchfield, Conn, has been received by The 
New-York Moral and Equitable Association, which was 
formed " for the suppression of immorality and all acts of injustice.' 7 

Your communication appears, (professedly,) to be a reply to that 
letter, from the Baptist friends in Litchfield, for whom the Rev. 3. 
M.. Horner was then preaching. Your defamatory advertisement 
in " The Christian Secretary," implicating that gentleman, as an 
" impostor," on account of his liberal sentiments, relating to Chris- 
tian Communion, has determined a "public" body to demand of 
you evidence to support certain allegations in that paper, against the 
party accused in said advertisement; to which you reply, at the out- 
set, that you t: might fairly be excused" from answering their com- 
munication, which, demanded evidence from you> to support ths- 
charges you preferred " in the Christian Secretary.' 

For the truth of those charges, you say, "you stand pledged 
t) the public " You have been called upon by that "public" to 
furnish evidence which may be conclusive in the justification of 
your advertisement. But when this demand has been reiterated, 
insisting upon a fulfilment of your "pledge" you answer that you 
think you " might fairly be excused from replying" and from 
making an effort to maintain your charges against Mr. Horner^ or 
to relieve him from the imputation which you had so unjustly put 
upon him in your scurrilous advertisement, which has .converted a 
herald of good tidings into a vehicle of slander. 

In a former communication, addressed to you by this body, you 
was apprised that Mr. Horner had submitted to us, your case, for 
examination and adjudication. As a "public" body, we, then, de- 
manded a fulfilment of your " pledge" 

Sir, the charges in your advertisement, against Mr. Horner have 
been developed, and the result of a candid investigation, in connex- 
ion with your total refusal to fulfil your " pledge to the public ," 
has terminated in a conviction founded upon conclusive evidence, in 
favour of the party which you have slandered, and not a little to 
your disadvantage as a Christian minister. 

The manner in which you treated the letter from the "public" 
at Litchfield, suggesting that your unfounded statements against 
Mr. Horner, might " enable him to put a little money in his pocket," 
by resorting to a legal process^ is a sample of your unchristian can- 



274 LETTER TO PRIEST LAXOMBE. 

dour, and of religious juggling: which ill becomes a character pro- 
fessing to make the New Testament the rule of his conduct ! ! " The 
public" demand a redemption of your "pledge" in the case of your 
declamations against Mr. Horner, in " The Christian SeeretaryP 
An injured and persecuted minister, whom you have implicated and 
traduced, has appealed to you for an explanatory redress. The 
I\ t ew-York Moral and Equitable Association have demanded 
justice in this case; but you think that you might "fairly be ex- 
cused" because you stand "pledged to the public" to produce evi- 
dence that Mr. H. is an "impostor." Really, sir, you "stand 
pledged to the public" but that "public" have claimed at your 
hand, proof in support of your allegations against Mr. H. in " The 
Christian Secretary," and, what then 1 You appear to be very 
conscienscious, and verily think you " might fairly be excused!!" 
Let us look at this mendicant figure. What ! slander a fellow be- 
ing, and " pledge yourself to the public" to sustain the calumny, 
and when called upon by that '■'•public^ for a redemption of your 
c: pledge" decamp from scrutiny and investigation, with the prayer 
of a self-condemned persecutor, to be " excused" from further exami- 
nation, explanation, or proof. 

Sir, we construe this prayer to the advantage of Mr. H.'s real 
respectability as a Christian and minister, and shall allow you to go 
with your " excuse" where you please But, by that very '' excuse" 
you acquit Mr. Horner, and take the whole responsibility on your- 
self, of having intentionally maltreated, and, without foundation, 
slandered an open communion Baptist minister, merely because he 
is such. O, bigotry ! when wilt thou hide thy deformed head ! and 
discord, when wilt thou hold thy clamorous tongue! 

Sir, the vouchers produced by Mr. Horner, in favour of his Chris- 
tian and ministerial character, and especially those from Robert 
Hall, A. M. D. D. are so far from rendering him suspicious, or 
of justifying you in your treatment of that gentleman, that they 
present you to an impartial community, as an opposer of truth, and 
a calumniator of no ordinary character. 

You profess to have Christian friendship for Pedo-Baptist deno- 
minations ; but into the bosom of the man who reduces his profes- 
sion to practice, you plunge your envenomed sectarian arrow, and 
thunder your close communion anathemas, in language evidently 
seasoned with the persecuting spirit of abduction, which present to 
the sanctified ear of charity, the near approach of inquisitorial hor- 
rors ! ! 

From the method which you have taken with the person you im- 
peach in " The Christian Secretary," and from your reply to the 
" public" at Litchfield, that "public" have a right to form an es- 
timate of the tendency of close communion, and of the candour of 
those who strictly adhere to that intolerant system. True, Mr. 
Horner is an open communion Baptist minister. He appeals to his 
Bible for the support ot that " charity which seeketh not her own 
and envieth not." He does not narrow down the virtue of recti- 
tude to a party, nor contend that baptism by immersion is a line of 
demarkation between the precious and the vile. With a becoming 
charity, accompanied with precious faith, he regards the virtuous 
aad the good as included within the bow of the Redeemer's cove/. 



LETTER 



275 



nant, and, in all protestant societies, he recognizes the image of his 
master. 1 ' 

We need not he surprised, sir. at your alarm at the arrival on our 
shores, of an open-communion Baptist clergyman, recommended to 
the "public" by the celebrated Robert Hall, and especially at the 
approach of a fearless defender " of the faith once delivered to the 
saints." Such a champion, zealous in the cause of God, and able 
to demolish the intolerance of bloody Rome, sucked by the greater 
majority of the rigidists in this country, from the mother of harlots 
and abomination, is as dangerous in the view of this hardened peo- 
ple, as is the Bible, in the opinion 01 the Roman priesthood, among 
the laity. 

Sir. such is the Rev. Mr. Horner, whose influence you have at- 
tempted to cast into midnight darkness, by your impious and un- 
founded publication in " The Christian Secretary." What, sir, 
has been your method to demolish the open Christian communion 
cause ? Hard words, but no arguments! pompous and unfounded 
allegations, but no proof nor evidence to support these allegations ! 
A mighty "pledge" to :: the public" but no redemption of that 
" pledge." A cowardly proposal to be " excused !" and this you 
think is fairly your due, because you live upon the charity of the 
people, and are unable to pay a single dollar for your slanders. 
You, therefore, inform the " public''' at Litchfield, that Mr. Hor- 
ner may make a profitable merchandise, by " legal investigation, 
and so put a little money into his pocket!!" 

This appears like the conduct of a certain beggar, who, having 
borrowed a suit of clothes, for the purpose ot defrauding a gentle- 
man, succeeded in obtaining credit in the purchase of a commodity, 
and then insolently defied a prosecution. But we do not mean to 
insult you on account ot your poverty; neither do we intend to al- 
low you .to slander Mr. Horner in " The Christian Secretary," and 
then suffer you to escape the scrutiny of " the public^ to whom you 
are " pledged." merely because there is no possibility of Mr. Hor- 
ner's obtaining " a little money for his pocket" from apennyless ca- 
lumniator. 

Sir, if there are any traits of severity in the above, which are not 
''•fairly" deduced from your own statements, in answer to a "pub- 
lic" to which you refuse a fulfilment of your "pledge" they will 
be regretted, and candid^ retracted; but as we have no conviction 
of travelling beyond the circumference of your own letter, to the 
Baptist friends at Litchfield, we cannot moke any amendment. 
In well doing, we wish you prosperity ; but while you are governed 
by feelings hostile to the spirit of that Gospel which you profess to 
preach to an ungodly world; while you assail the good name of an 
open communion Baptist, on account of that Catholicism which is the 
essence of our holy religion, you must not think it strange if the up- 
right class you among evil doers. 

The conduct of close Baptist Associations, in the publicity of slan- 
ders against good men who differ from them in opinion, is an evil of a 
most alarming import, and if not checked, or finally suppressed, 
must eventually terminate in the extermination of all denominations 
of Christiins, who consciensciously dissent from their opinions ; and 
this we fear is already anticipated and matured in one intolerant 



276 TO PRIEST LACOMBE. 

system, in which the rigidists and bloody papist, go hand in 
hand. Both of these denominations claim to be the only church 
of the living God, and each attach to baptism, an unction of a 
similar nature, and attempts to defend the same as a term of Chris- 
tian communion. 

Feeling the importance of your case, and being alarmed at so fla- 
grant a principle, which has led you, without cause, to lay violent 
hands upon the character of a Christian minister, you must not be 
surprised that we should lay before the "public" the fearful conse- 
quences which grow out of your system ; nor should you accuse us 
of rashness, when we announce to the community, that the intole- 
rance of the rigidists in relation to close communion. Should this 
become the popular and established religion of any country, it 
would be fatal to all religious liberty. 

Indeed, sir, the hand that would pen such an article as you have 
published sgainst Mr. Horner, in " The Christian Secretary," 
without any foundation, would not be timid with his close commu- 
nion creed in one hand, and a bundle of faggots in the other ; and 
when be had burnt brother Horner, he would not be satisfied un- 
til he saw the bones of Bunyan and Robert Hall placed upon a fu- 
neral pile. 

We, therefore, exhort you, to repent of your wickedness, with 
great humility, before God, whose minister you have persecuted ; 
that you refrain from drawing the corruptiou of intolerance from 
the putrid breast of the church of Rome ; that you ' c follow peace 
with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord. 

ISAAC ALLERTON, 
Clerk of the New-York Moral and Equitable Association. 

New-Yokr, Feb. 8th, 1836. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction, Page 3 

CHAPTER I. 

Shows the nature of the Jewish and Christian covenants, point- 
ing to the time when the one closed and the other commenced, and 
thereby fixing the data when the new and Gospel law was first en- 
forced, with both its ordinances, and shows that the one is not a pre- 
requisite to the other. This chapter also identifies the opposite sen- 
timent, with the foulest errors of the church of Rome. Page 25. 

CHAPTER II. 

Contains — 1. A narrative of events and facts connected with the com- 
mencement of the persecutions against the author — II. Mr. "Wood's 
letter to the editor of the Baptist Repository — III. The testimonials 
of Rob. Hall, A. M. D. D., J. Wilks, M. P. and others— Animadver- 
sions on the inconsistent sectarian, and persecuting conduct of one 
who edits the organ of the persecuting hierophants — The decla- 
ration of three Baptist churches — all showing that the persecutions 
against the author, are because of his open and liberal sentiment. — 
IY. A dialogue between the author and the editor, and others, 
in which will be seen — 1. The manner in which the papistical rigid- 
ists carry on their persecutions — And, 2. That those persecutions 
were inflicted on the author because of his open communion and 
anti- papistical sentiments — 3. A refutation of false charges, and a 
correct translation of the 13th verse of the 4th chapter of Gen- 
sis Page 93 



278 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 



Contains a selection of the slanderous assertions of the New-Yor! 
papistical council, which is proved to be — I. A palpable falsehood— 

II. An infamous slander — III. An infernal insinuation — It also dc 
velopes — 1. The wicked design of the author's persecutor's- 
2. Shows how far they are likely to succeed in their persecu 
tions Page HI 

CHAPTER IV. 

Developes the crafty manner in which the Warwick papistical 
council carried on their persecutions against the author, which were 
commenced by the N. Y. Trentish. council — And animadversions on 
the public newspaper edited by Mr. Bebee, who was one of the princi- 
pal of the "Warwick council, in which his idea of rigid communion 
and fatalism are detected Page 141 

CHAPTER V. 

Contains strictures on the Hudson River papistical council, in 
which will be found — I. Two dialogues, between Mr. Willis, Mr. 
Middleton, and the author, which abundantly show that they were 
mere tools of the council, to carry on their persecuting plots against 
the author — II. Two letters to Priest Cone, of N. Y. and animad- 
versions on his conduct, showing his guilt and persecuting spirit — 

III. The said council is convicted of printing and publishing a gross 
and slanderous falsehood, with an intention to injure the reputation 
of the author — IV. According to the opinion of one of the most po- 
pular judges in the United States, the said council is convicted of 
committing a libel against the author, and violating — 1. The laws 
of humanity — 2. The laws of the United States — 3. The laws of 
God Page 171 

CHAPTER VI. 

Contains — I. Introductory remarks— II. An exposure of the un- 
manly conduct of Priest Sherwood and Ambler — ill. Priest War- 
ren's letter, and answer to it — IV. The libellous and wicked deport- 
ment of Priest Larcombe depicted, evincing his guilt and persecu- 
ting spirit— V. A letter to the editor of the Christian Secretary, 
and animadversions on his unfair conduct — A second letter to the 
said editor. ......... Page 227 



CONTENTS. 279 

CHAPTER VII. 

Contains an account of — I. The savage conduct of the ruffians 
nnployed by the papistical councils ot Gold-street and Fishkill, to 
;arry on their deeds of despotism and persecution — II. The false- 
hood of Priest Dodge's statement before the council, exposed — 
III. Their despotism and wickedness described, in denying the au- 
thor the liberty of speaking in his own defence — IV. Two letters,, 
addressed to the Hudson River and Warwick councils — Their con- 
duct in not answering those letters brought to light, and their spirits, 
poetically compared with those of the persecutors of the fifth cen- 
tury — V. An exposure of the iniquitous conduct of the Union or 
Danbury council, in which we have an account — 1. Of the libellous- 
declaration of their illiterate chairman — 2. Their persecuting spirit 
identified with that of the wicked high priests of the Jews. Page 24$ 

TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A letter from the New- York Moral and Equitable Association, 
to Priest Lacombe. ........ Pa<re27S 



ERRATA. 

On page 19, 14th line from the top, read future 
instead of former. 

In the 18th line read with, instead of this. 

In the 20th line read wafting, instead of waving. 

On the 26th page, 7th line from the bottom,, read 
fertilizing instead of foreboding. 



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